Refugee Crisis
As thousands of refugees and migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and other countries in crisis move west and north through Europe, they are encountering a new set of obstacles and humiliations. Follow live coverage of the crisis from CBC's foreign correspondents.
-
-
- Thomson Reuters
Romania criticized a plan by Hungary to extend its new border fence eastwards towards Romania, a move announced earlier on Tuesday as a way of stopping migrants looking for alternative ways to enter its territory.
"The Foreign Ministry considers that erecting a fence between two European Union member states that are strategic partners to be not a correct gesture from a political point of view and not in line with the European spirit," the ministry said. "The Hungarian side was notified about this stance." - Thomson Reuters
-
-
- Thomson Reuters
Austria will introduce tougher controls at its border with Hungary at midnight local time, an Interior Ministry spokesman said, two days after Germany put in place stricter controls, slowing the flow of migrants across its border.
Austria's Interior Minister has informed the European Commission of the move, the spokesman said, adding that the new measures might be extended to other Austrian border regions depending on the numbers of migrants trying to enter. - Thomson Reuters
-
For many Syrian refugees, fleeing to Europe isn't the answer
Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees seeking shelter in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon have been watching with mixed emotions as relatives and neighbours flee Syria's civil war in search of better, safer lives in Europe. -
-
-
-
- Thomson Reuters
Migrants staging a sit-in on the main road which links Serbia to Budapest said on Tuesday that they would block the motorway until the authorities let them enter the European Union.
Hundreds of migrants -- many of them refugees -- set up tents on the tarmac and settled down to rest, hoping that officials would relax newly-instated rules which severely restrict access to Hungary and the EU through its southern border.
The Hungarian government sealed a crucial entry point in nearby Roszke on Monday with a new section of a 3.5 metre high fence topped with razor wire, part of a package of tough new measures targeting the migrants. A barrier was erected across the motorway.
The protesters walked out onto the road at lunchtime saying they wanted a collective hunger strike to force the Hungarians to re-open the border. - Thomson Reuters
-
- Associated Press
Declaring a state of emergency, Hungary sealed off its southern border with Serbia on Tuesday and detained those trying to enter illegally, aiming to shut down the flow of migrants pouring in. Chaos ensued, as hundreds of migrants piled up in a no man's land, and Serbian officials reacted with outrage.
The entry point to the coveted European Union for tens of thousands of migrants slammed shut with police patrols, border fences, razor-wire and patrol dogs. Scores of migrants were detained by police and now face charges under a new law that makes crossing the border illegally a crime.
Upping the ante, Hungary announced later in the day it would start a fence on its border with fellow EU-member Romania -- a move that Romania said violated the very spirit of EU unity.
Migrants look through the border fence between Serbia and Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Tuesday. (Zoltan Mathe/MTI/Associated Press) - Associated Press
-
Arresting images coming in from around the world today as Hungary closes its Serbian border to migrants.A man kisses his baby as they sit along a fence on Hungaria's border with Serbia near the town of Horgos @AFPphoto http://t.co/1uulYT2Yu7
Retweeted by AFPphoto9:02 AM - 15 Sep 2015- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
Thousands of migrants are camped alongside newly-erected fences at borders across Europe, a virtual no man's land that's sprung up over the past week.#migrantcrisis - Refugees wait at the border for police to allow them to cross into Macedonia. By @RAtanasovski #AFP http://t.co/BN9DKGtumx
Retweeted by AFPphoto7:17 AM - 15 Sep 2015- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
by Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/15/2015 4:57:52 PM -
-
-
- Thomson Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday called for a special EU refugee summit, urging unity
after an angry reaction to a suggestion by one of her ministers that states that did not take in their share of asylum seekers could face financial penalties.
The proposal by Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere was forcefully rejected by the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which are among eastern European states that have resisted European Union plans to share out refugees.
Merkel later took a more conciliatory tone, calling for Europe to come together on the refugee issue. - Thomson Reuters
-
-
- in Vancouver
- in Vancouver
-
- Associated Press
The chief of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says European countries are misguided if they think erecting fences will help solve the continent's immigration crisis.
Fresh from a trip to Hungary, Elhadj As Sy told The Associated Press on Tuesday that "we know throughout history that fences will never be a solution to anything."
Hungary has put up a fence with razor wire along its border with Serbia to block an influx of people -- many from war-torn Syria -- heading to the European Union. The IFRC secretary-general said he hoped European "solidarity will prevail" to help the arriving masses. - Associated Press
-
- Associated Press
The European Union will hold an extra meeting of justice and interior ministers next week to seek progress on how relocate some 120,000 refugees among its members.
Tuesday's decision for the Sep. 22 meeting came in the wake of inconclusive meeting of interior ministers Monday where at least four eastern nations objected to the quota proposals to spread the refugees from Italy, Greece and Hungary across 22 other EU nations.
The EU is also considering a possible summit of all 28 EU leaders next week to assess the migration crisis. - Associated Press
-
- in Vancouver
- in Vancouver
-
Why Europe isn’t the answer for many Syrian refugees. My report from the Turkish border: bit.ly/1ieXNxW #CBCby Derek Stoffel via twitter 9/15/2015 7:32:16 PM -
Why many Syrian refugees aren’t heading to Europe. My report from the Turkish border: bit.ly/1ieXNxW #CBCby Derek Stoffel via twitter 9/15/2015 7:37:25 PM
-
Why Europe isn’t the answer for many Syrians. My report from the Turkish border: bit.ly/1ieXNxW #CBC http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO995HzW8AAVK_-.jpg
by Derek Stoffel via twitter 9/15/2015 7:39:14 PM -
- Thomson Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit London this weekend for talks with his British counterpart on Europe's migrant crisis and the war in Syria, the State Department said on Tuesday.
Kerry will meet with UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and also with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed to discuss regional issues, department spokesman John Kirby said.
He will be in London from Friday to Sunday. - Thomson Reuters
-
-
#Hungary's border fence is reinforced with a new law that says anyone who breaches it will face charges @ 6:30 http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO-YWTWWgAABP0T.jpg
by As It Happens via twitter 9/15/2015 9:37:21 PM -
- Associated Press
Austria's interior minister says that no one fleeing regions of
war or persecution will be turned back to Hungary despite the
introduction of controls at borders separating the two countries.
Johanna Mikl-Leitner's comments Tuesday came shortly before
Austria imposed temporary controls at its border points with
Hungary, starting immediately after midnight.
Mikl-Leitner tells state broadcaster ORF that Syrians and other
in danger in their home countries can continue to ask for asylum in
Austria. She says they will also be free to travel on to Germany, as
was the case up to now.
Her comments shed light on previous uncertainty whether such
migrants would be allowed to continue their journey.
The ministry earlier said only that all travellers must carry a
passport or EU-recognized identity document. - Associated Press
-
Refugees search for alternatives from Serbia as Hungary closes routes
Croatia found itself dragged into Europe's migrant crisis on Wednesday as dozens walked through fields across Serbia's border with its western neighbour, rerouted by bus after Hungary locked down its own frontier with Serbia. -
- Associated Press
Hundreds of migrants have left the train station in the Austrian city of Salzburg and are trying to cross into Germany on foot.
The migrants are aiming to reach the nearby German town of Freilassing.
An AP reporter saw German police trying to register the migrants as they reached the border on Wednesday morning. - Associated Press
-
-
-
- Associated Press
German police say traffickers appear to be changing tack: instead of taking migrants across the border into Germany, they are dumping them in Austria and telling them to walk over the bridges themselves.
Germany put controls on its border Sunday in an effort to catch smugglers and bring some order to the influx of tens of thousands fleeing their homelands.
Federal police spokesman Thimad Schweikl told The Associated Press on Wednesday that more than 1,000 migrants had crossed into Germany on foot in the southern region of Passau in the past 24 hours.
He says they appear to have been brought to the bridges in groups of 20 to 40 by traffickers seeking to avoid arrest. - Associated Press
-
A group of migrants walk on the Serbian side of the border with Croatia, near Sid, Serbia, on Wednesday. Barred from Hungary, migrants walked through cornfields into the European Union via Serbia's western border with Croatia, opening a new front in the continent's migration crisis. (Antonio Bronic/Reuters)
-
-
-
- Thomson Reuters
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed Europe's refugee crisis on Western support for "terrorists", as people fleeing his country's civil war stream towards the European Union.
In his first public comments on the mass migration, broadcast on Wednesday, Assad said Europe could expect more refugees.
Countries including the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia want to see Assad gone from power and have supported the opposition to his rule during the four-year-old war, including some of the armed groups fighting him. - Thomson Reuters
-
- Thomson Reuters
The cost to Germany of taking the lead in Europe's migrant crisis, by accepting up to 1 million refugees a year over the next two years, may reach 25 billion euros, according to research published on Wednesday.
That is derived from a basic calculation of 12,500 euros per migrant, said Peter Chatwell, senior rates strategist at Japanese investment bank Mizuho. Part of the extra spending may have to be met by extra borrowing, he said.
"There will be a fiscal burden in the first two years at least," Chatwell said. "The government won't go into deficit, but it will require looser fiscal policy and therefore more issuance of debt than would otherwise be the case."
The short-term expense will be offset by the longer-term boost to growth from the rise in population, much of which could be skilled and relatively cheap labour, Chatwell said. - Thomson Reuters
-
Syria's Bashar Assad blames Europe for refugee crisis
Syrian President Bashar Assad has blamed Europe's refugee crisis on Western support for "terrorists", as people fleeing his country's civil war stream towards the European Union. -
Chaos at Hungary's border #CBC #refugeecrisis http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPB3LzQWEAA4CsQ.jpg
by Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/16/2015 1:48:22 PM -
Standoff at the Serbian side of the border. Asylum seekers demanding the border open. #cbc http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPB3YSCWwAEKRno.jpg
by Tracy Seeley via twitter 9/16/2015 1:49:14 PM -
An endless line for water at Hungary's closed border #CBC #refugeecrisis http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPB4c2lWcAAXbxu.jpg
by Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/16/2015 1:53:57 PM -
A refugee protestor washes after being in a crowd tear gassed by Hungarian riot police. #cbc http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPB5ttRWsAEuF7J.jpg
by Tracy Seeley via twitter 9/16/2015 1:59:27 PM -
An endless line for water at Hungary's closed border #CBC #refugeecrisis http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPB69QEWsAQbG_4.jpg
by Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/16/2015 2:04:54 PM -
Asylum seekers wait for food near Hungary's border #CBC #refugeecrisis http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPB-patWUAAm2UJ.jpg
by Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/16/2015 2:21:01 PM
