The European refugee crisis - 08/13/2015

Schengen shock: Germany halts trains from Austria, introduces border controls

RT,

13 September, 2015

Austrian train operator OeBB says Germany has stopped all trains coming in from the country, and Germany’s Interior Ministry has abruptly introduced “temporary” border controls with Austria. More than 2,100 extra police have been dispatched to secure the borders.

Austria’s national train company OeBB also announced earlier that it is suspending services to and from Hungary, which is where most asylum seekers arrive from, on their way to Germany. It was unclear if smaller operators would follow suit.

Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has announced that the country is immediately introducing border controls, following an internal vote between the country's ruling coalition partners.

"At this moment Germany is temporarily introducing border controls again along [the EU's] internal borders. The focus will be on the border to Austria at first," the politician said at a news conference in Berlin.

"The aim of these measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany and to return to orderly procedures when people enter the country."

READ MORE: Trains between Denmark and Germany halted amid refugee crisis

De Maziere called for asylum seekers to "abide by the rules" and register in the first country of arrival in the EU, and said they could not "pick and choose" where to live in Europe. Many have refused to identify themselves in transit countries, demanding passage to Germany, which accepts a higher proportion of applications than other EU countries, and has more generous welfare benefits.

According to the Berlin tabloid Bild, and Austria’s leading newspaper Krone, German border police will examine the travel documents of those arriving through the most popular southern route into the country, to make sure they are on the list of countries eligible for asylum.

URGENT: Austria halts train traffic from Hungary due to 'massive overburdening'http://t.co/YTd0OjBd0I#refugeespic.twitter.com/JGGSz1mCMp

— RT (@RT_com) September 10, 2015

While the plurality of more than 800,000 expected to apply for asylum in Germany this year are from Syria, a significant minority originate from Balkan states, some of which, such as Albania and Kosovo, have been designated as “safe” – meaning the applications are likely to fail.

The new procedure would be a blow to the Schengen agreement, which enshrines the right of free movement across the borders of its EU signatories.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said that Germany extraordinary measures fall “within crisis rules” of the agreement, but urged a return to open borders as soon as is practical, citing widespread support for Schengen from European leaders he has spoken to.

READ MORE: 14,000 Germans protest against xenophobia in Hamburg (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Munich, the entry point for most asylum seekers, has been overwhelmed, with over 13,000 arriving on Saturday alone, and more than 3,000 on Sunday morning.

"We have reached the upper limit of our capacity," police said in a statement.

Munich’s mayor, Dieter Reiter, said the city was already up to 5,000 places short of capacity for the newcomers, forcing many of the asylum seekers to sleep at the overcrowded Central railway station. The city administration said it might be forced to temporarily house the refugees in Olympiahalle, an indoor sports facility and concert arena, which is currently undergoing renovation.

Solidarity With #refugees: Tens of thousands turn up for support march in #London (VIDEO)http://t.co/18x3vsw5C8pic.twitter.com/YxkxO3JSB2

— RT (@RT_com) September 13, 2015

While Berlin has led a reluctant EU in opening its doors to refugees, on Sunday economy minister Sigmar Gabriel admitted that “the European lack of action in the refugee crisis is now pushing even Germany to the limit of its ability.”

He told Der Tagesspiegel newspaper that "it's not so much the number of refugees as the speed at which they're arriving that's making it so difficult for the states and the municipalities to cope."

“When German officials are complaining that the country has  come to its limits, it’s ridiculous, because they themselves have done everything during the last years to bring about this situation,” said Hansjoerg Mueller, a member of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, in an interview with RT.

Hungary’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban expressed “solidarity” with Germany’s decision, saying to Bild that it would help “safeguard German and European values.” Orban did warn that the step would be meaningless unless the borders of Greece, the first EU port of call for many migrants, would also be sealed from the influx.

Refrigerated truck containing refugees stopped in Austria, this time 42 rescued

 Police from Austria’s Upper province say it has rescued 42 asylum seekers from a refrigerated truck near the border with Germany. Austrian authorities expect about 10,000 refugees to arrive from Hungary by the end of the day.

Five women and eight children were among the 42 refugees rescued from the Finnish-registered refrigerated truck used for transporting flowers, DPA news agency reported, citing police. The incident took place on the A8 highway at Aistersheim, about 30 kilometers from the German border.

Syria, Iraq Refugees Blaming US for Their Troubles

Sputnik News,

13 September, 2015

Refugees are streaming into Europe from Syria and Iraq, escaping the rapacious fist of ISIL. While the extremist "Islamic State" cuts a clear bogeyman, many refugees are pointing their fingers at the West, especially the US, and their handling of the situation.

Rzgar Abdul, 28, fled his home in Iraq to escape ISIS. He now resides in a barrack-style campground for refugees in Hungary.

He blames his squalid existence on the United States.

“Iraq’s problem is America’s problem,” Abdul said “This crisis is America’s problem. In Iraq, Syria, all over, the U.S. did not do enough.”

However, the CIA alone spent $40 million just in efforts to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Nonetheless, Abdul’s views are shared by refugees across countries in Europe and the Middle East.

Refugee Jebrail Mohamed, 26, said the United State’s failure to use more man power in Syria led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands.

That sentiment stretches to Europe’s political figures.

Sahra Wagenknecht and Dietmar Bartsch, deputy chairpersons of the Left Party in the German Parliament, said in a policy paper, “Killer gangs, such as the Islamic State, were indirectly supported and without hindrance supplied with money and weapons from countries including those allied with Germany,” apparently referring to early efforts to back moderate rebels in Syria.

Now, President Barack Obama has declared the U.S. will extend asylum to 10,000 Syrian refugees.

Europe faces an even larger burden.

The European Union on Friday delayed for a month a proposed refugee resettlement program due to indecisiveness over how to deal with the massive influx.

Every day, thousands cross into Hungary alone..

Denmark plans to reject the plan.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban denounced migrants bringing trouble to his country.

“They seized railway stations, rejected giving fingerprints, failed to cooperate and are unwilling to go to places where they would get food, water, accommodation and medical care,” Orban said at a news conference Friday. “They rebelled against Hungarian legal order.”

The UN is planning to provide supplies for 95,000 in the region including prefabricated homes for 300 families.

German Refugee Crisis: Munich Mayor Warns City is Already Full

Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy has incurred vocal displeasure in Germany's southeastern state of Bavaria, prompting Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter to decry the huge influx of migrants.

The German Chancellor administration is facing growing criticism for Angela Merkel's decision to allow a huge wave of refugees from the Middle East to pour into the country.

Dieter Reiter, the Mayor of Munich, the capital and the largest city of the German state of Bavaria, has appealed for help in accommodating migrants: according to Munich authorities, almost 13,000 asylum seekers arrived on Saturday and about 1,300 came on Sunday morning.

Reiter has warned the central government that the city has come to the upper limit of its capacity and urged Berlin to come up with the solution to the problem as soon as possible and bemoaned the fact that other German regions have not yet stepped in to share the burden.