German police were carrying out checks on the Austrian border yesterday following Berlin’s stunning decision to reintroduce passport controls, as a new record migrant surge into Hungary raised the stakes ahead of crunch EU talks.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s reinstatement of checks on the nation’s frontiers marked a new phase in the continent’s refugee and migrant crisis and struck at the heart of the EU’s Schengen agreement, which allows border-free travel throughout most of the bloc.
“Europe’s inaction in the refugee crisis had driven Germany ... to the limit of its capacity,” German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told the Tagesspiegel daily.
Photo: AFP
Underscoring the scale of the challenge, Hungarian authorities yesterday said they had registered a record 5,809 migrants streaming into the country the day before, amid reports that neighboring Serbia might try to “push through” as many as 30,000 people before draconian new laws come into force.
Hungary is racing to finish a controversial anti-migrant fence on its frontier by today, when it will start arresting illegal migrants.
Barely five minutes after Germany reinstated the border controls, police halted three young people fleeing war in Syria, asking to see their passports.
“We have been walking through Europe for 22 days,” said 27-year-old Hatem Ali Ahaj, who suffers from asthma and was struggling to catch his breath.
“We thought that Germany was the only country that would treat us like human beings,” he said.
Facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, ministers from EU member states were to gather later yesterday in Brussels to try and heal deep divisions in the bloc over migrant policy.
Germany — Europe’s top economy which is expecting 800,000 migrants this year — had previously signaled it would throw open the country’s borders to Syrian refugees.
However, the abrupt U-turn and admission that even powerhouse Germany cannot cope with the record influx has underlined the importance of the interior ministers’ talks.
The European Commission last week unveiled a plan to redistribute 160,000 migrants across the continent to relieve pressure on “frontline” states such as Italy, Greece and Hungary.
However, this has run into stiff opposition from several Eastern European states such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka insisted his country would never accept compulsory quotas, saying the system “won’t work,” while Slovakia said it would try to block any such binding measures.
Slovakia yesterday introduced checks on its border with Austria and Hungary, reinforcing fears that Germany’s move would lead to a domino effect.
However, the European Commission stressed that the German border decision “underlines the urgency to agree on the measures proposed by the European Commission in order to manage the refugee crisis.”
With the human side of the crisis prompting a wave of sympathy particular in Western Europe, tragedy struck again off the coast of Greece, with 34 more migrants — including four babies and 11 children — drowning when their overcrowded wooden boat capsized in high winds.
Justifying Berlin’s decision, German Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maiziere said that “the aim of this measure is to stop the current influx to Germany and to return to an orderly process.”
Migrants must understand “they cannot choose the states where they are seeking protection,” he told reporters, as Germany also temporarily halted all train traffic to and from Austria, which restarted yesterday morning.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed Berlin’s move.
“We understand that this decision was necessary in order to defend Germany’s and Europe’s values,” Orban told Bild newspaper.
Germany’s ally, France, also rushed to Berlin’s defense.
Merkel “is not shutting the door, she is re-introducing checks to ensure that those who enter Germany have the status of refugees and that the countries up the chain have respected the rules of Schengen,” French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve told RTL radio.
For those already in Hungary, the confusion over Europe’s policy has meant a fresh scramble to get to their destination.
“I cannot wait here. Time might be running out,” said Fayik, a slight and smiley Afghan who can speak five languages.
“I don’t like doing illegal things, but sometimes there is no choice. I have been very quick. I have to continue to be quick,” the 20-year-old said.
Britain, which is not part of the Schengen zone, yesterday appointed a minister to deal specifically with the 20,000 Syrian refugees the country has agreed to resettle over the next five years from camps bordering the war-torn country.
The International Organization for Migration has said that more than 430,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year, with 2,748 dying en route or going missing.
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