Here's What's Happening:
- Syrians escaping from war and persecution are fleeing to Europe, joined by people from Afghanistan, Iraq, and a number of African nations.
- The EU said that some 500,000 migrants had crossed into the union's borders in the first eight months of 2015.
- Last week, Hungary closed its border with Serbia and implemented new laws aimed at stemming the flow of refugees and other people entering the country. Police deployed tear gas and water cannons in border clashes.
- Some 14,000 people crossed into Croatia in just over two days after Hungary's borders closed. The country's Prime Minister said they were no longer able to deal with the numbers, and the country could not become a "migrant hotspot." *The EU has imposed a controversial quota system to redistribute 120,000 refugees and migrants around Europe. *A further 1 billion euros has been pledged by the EU to help agencies supporting Syrian refugees.
Updates
Croatia lifted its Bajakovo checkpoint blockade at the Serbian border, according to Reuters.
A further 1 billion euros has been pledged by European Union leaders to help U.N. agencies support Syrian refugees in a new effort to stem Europe's growing crisis.
In the emergency summit in Brussels on Wednesday night, European leaders agreed to up their financial support of transit countries including Greece, Italy, and Turkey, which are currently hosting millions of refugees.
It was agreed that the EU must strengthen its borders, and that some money would be used to step up identification and finger-printing of refugees in Italy and Greece, The Guardian reported.
Donald Tusk, European Council president, said that "the greatest tide of refugees and migrants is yet to come.
"We need to correct the policy of open doors and windows."
The summit was held amid tensions over the controversial quota scheme, announced earlier this week, which will see 120,000 refugees and migrants relocated in Europe. Several member states, including Hungary, which closed its borders last week, oppose the scheme and Slovakia has launched a legal challenge, the BBC reported. The U.K. has exercised its right to opt out of the quota scheme.
European Union’s interior ministers approved a controversial plan on Tuesday to impose a quota system that will see 120,000 refugees and migrants resettled throughout the 28 members of the union.
While the union usually accepts new policies through unanimous consent, in this case a majority vote was called for, with Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary – currently at the center of Europe's incoming refugee movement – all voting against the proposal.
Read BuzzFeed World News editor Hayes Brown's full report here.
The British government has said that it will speed up its refugee resettlement programme in a fresh push to help tackle Europe's growing refugee crisis.
On Sunday, International Development Secretary Justine Greening said that the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) would be given extra resources to help move more Syrian refugees to Britain.
The extra support will allow the UNHCR to identify and prioritize the most vulnerable refugees, including those who need medical attention and who have survived torture.
"Britain has been supporting millions of people caught up in the brutal Syria conflict right from its start four years ago," Greening said. "And we will use our expertise to help speed up the resettlement of 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees from the region."
"This is not just morally the right thing to do, but it's also the smart thing to do," she said.
"By taking refugees directly from camps in the region we are ensuring that we reach the most vulnerable, while our aid continues to support others to stay in the region rather than make the perilous journey to Europe," she said.
Earlier this month, Britain agreed to take 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years from camps in nations around the war-torn country.
Thousands of refugees arrived in Austria on Saturday, as Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia continue to push refugees into neighbouring countries, The Guardian reported.
The Austrian Red Cross told news agency AFP that an estimated 13,000 refugees had arrived on the country on Saturday alone.
After closing its borders on Wednesday, the Hungarian government made an apparent effort to move refugees through the country as quickly as possible, transporting thousands directly to the Austrian border.
Hungarian authorities just dropped bus load of #refugees & #migrants - pointed in direction of #Austria
Local police said that the were expecting an influx of around 10,000 refugees and migrants on Saturday.
On Sunday, trains at Tovarnik at the Croatia-Serbia were overwhelmed by refugees.
A little girl gets a boost from her brother onto the train in Tovarnik, Croatia. #refugeecrisis for @TIME
Migrants and refugees desperately try to board a train in Tovarnik - believing it to be going to Croatia's border https://t.co/XCyIp5HGux
According to the BBC, lack of confirmation of the trains' final destination on the ground meant that refugees were unsure where they were headed.
BuzzFeed News' Rossalyn Warren is at the Croatia-Slovenia border where thousands of refugees are still waiting to cross.
The refugees here sit, wait, and look on into Slovenia, the only passage they can take to reach west Europe.
"We want go. We want go. We want go." - patience is wearing thin here on Slovenian border.
Border control have just set up these barriers to let refugee families through.
Red Cross is trying to convince the Slovenian border control to let a mother and child through from Croatia
Refugees are being told: "there is no hope in Slovenia," Warren reports.
This refugee child is pointing towards the Slovenia border. Everyone here is clear in where they want to go.
"Countless buses" are arriving to collect refugees in Croatia according to journalists on the Hungarian border.
Waiting in Hungary - countless buses, ready to take refugees & migrants on to reception centres close to Austria
#Hungary police tell us 10 buses carrying #refugees from Croatia will arrive 15 mins,carriages await (pix @howmorris)
The BBC's Anna Holligan reported that buses are taking refugees to Austria.
On the road to Szentgotthárd following reports #Hungary dropped 4000 #refugees & #migrants on #Austria's doorstep
The Croatian government has said that it has "forced" Hungary to take more refugees, Reuters reported.
During a visit to Beli Manastir near the border on Saturday, Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanovic said "We have in some way compelled them to accept the refugees by sending them [to the Hungarian border] and we'll keep on doing it," The Guardian reported. "There has not been an agreement with Hungary," he added.
Since Hungary closed its border on Tuesday, more than 20,000 refugees have entered Croatia. Milanovic warned it was losing control.
In a response on Twitter, Zoltan Kovac, a spokesperson for the Hungarian prime minister, said that Croatia had "collapsed under pressure", and was breaking EU regulations.
Croatian govt says they agreed with Hun govt on "free passage" for illegal migrants; THAT'S A LIE! They break all relating EU regulations.
Croatia collapsed under the pressure in one day;we are standing the flood for the past 9 months. HUN will fully follow EU protocols
Major violation of intrntl law at the HUN/HR: train with over 1000migrants with 40 armed HR policemen crosses the border without permission
Late on Friday night police used tear gas on refugees, some of whom were children, at the Harmica border crossing after regugees demanded entry to Slovenia, The Telegraph reported.
#Slovenia border police fire tear gas at #refugees: http://t.co/VegXY1wMVd #Croatia #Harmica #RefugeesWelcome
Tension mounted as refugees began to push against the police cordon at the border after Slovenian prime minister Miro Cerar's announcement that the country was considering offering a safe corridor to refugees traveling to northern Europe.
By Saturday morning refugees were able to pass through the border.
This is what the crossing into Slovenia looks like right now. Children crying, police sleekly letting refugees in
Refugees in Croatia come up increasingly against a Europe that does not want them.
BuzzFeed News's Rossalyn Warren, who is reporting from Croatia, spoke to the refugees in Zagreb who are waiting day and night for a way to move further into Europe. "Why did Hungary close, why?" Noona, a refugee who has fled Iraq, asked. "Where could we go?"
Read the full story here.
American officials hope to meet “very shortly” with their Russian counterparts for urgent military talks aimed at resolving the Syrian civil war, Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday.
For over six hours on Friday, refugees from Syria, Somalia, Iran, and Afghanistan took shade from the heat at the main train station in Zagreb, Croatia.
They had arrived from Serbia after being turned away at the Hungarian border. As locals boarded trains around them with suitcases in hand, the refugees looked on, unsure of whether a train would ever arrive to take them to Slovenia.
"We walked here from Serbia, and slept here overnight," said a Somalian man, traveling with four friends. He said he and the others had fled from poverty and war at home, and now wanted to leave Croatia and head west.
"We now hear Slovenia doesn't want to let us in," the man, who wished to remain anonymous, told BuzzFeed News. "They have to though, we can't stay here. The EU need to do something because people will keep on coming."
Throughout the day, police awaited the arrival of thousands more refugees in trains into the station. Children ran around in the open spaces, and families sat together in circles on blankets under trees. Some refugees had been transported to a nearby refugee centre, while others — fearful they may miss the train to Slovenia — choose to wait on the station platform.
One mother said she had travelled from Damascus, Syria, to meet some of her family in Germany. "We were on a boat in Greece for six hours. We travelled through Serbia on coach. Now, we're sitting here at this station in Croatia, waiting. We're stuck here if they don't let us go," she said.
Rumors that the Slovenia-Croatian border has closed circulate around the train station. Regardless, refugees pack their bags and prepare for the journey to the border, where some had already arrived after taken taxis with inflated prices.
"We will go by train, or we will go by foot," one refugee said as he filled up his water bottle preparing for the move. "Either way, we will be going."
BuzzFeed News' Rossalyn Warren is in Zagreb, Croatia, where she has been meeting with refugees and migrants.
Hello from Zagreb. Today I'll be in the main train station where last night I met families heading to Slovenia.
I just met this woman from Damascus, Syria. She jokingly apologised, "I'm sorry I haven't brushed my hair in weeks."
She's fleeing war at home with her son and husband. Her little son was adorable, but wasn't keen on posing for photos
BuzzFeed News correspondent Mike Giglio and contributor Munzer al-Awad report that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is purposefully fueling the exodus of refugees from his war-torn nation. Read their report here.
BuzzFeed News reporter Rossalyn Warren is in Zagreb, Croatia, meeting refugee families. Follow her on Twitter for live updates.
Refugees here were handed these phrase books at the Croatian border warning them of the land mines in the country.
On Friday morning, the Croatian government tweeted that 14,000 refugees had entered the country over the past few days.
Around 14.000 #refugees entered Croatia by 9 AM http://t.co/iWCb9yk195 #refugeescrisis
Croatia's Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said Friday that migrants and refugees who have entered the country in the last few days would be "moved on," and that the country could not become a "migrant hotspot," Reuters reported
Speaking at a news conference, Milanovic said:
"We cannot register and accommodate these people any longer. They will get food, water and medical help, and then they can move on. The European Union must know that Croatia will not become a migrant 'hotspot'. We have hearts, but we also have heads."
He added that he had chaired a session of the country's National Security Council after being faced with thousands of refugees and migrants over the last two days, but it was now time for a different approach. He claimed the country had reached capacity, and authorities were no longer able register people in accordance with EU rules, according to AP. He said:
"What else can we do? You are welcome in Croatia and you can pass through Croatia. But, go on. Not because we don't like you but because this is not your final destination."
The remarks came after Croatia closed seven out of its eight road crossings from Serbia, but Milanovic insisted the border would not shut completely.
He said that migrants and refugees would be redirected to Hungary and Slovenia, and on towards western Europe. He may face problems with this, however, as Hungary and Slovenia have taken steps to strengthen their borders in recent days, AP reported.
Overnight, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the country had started building a fence along the country's border with Croatia, Deutsche Welle reported.
Images of chaotic scenes in Tovarnik, Croatia, are emerging after a large number of people broke through a police cordon at a train station where refugees and migrants are being brought from Serbia.
Chaos at train depot in Croatia. 1000's of migrants force their way past police & fences, refuse to wait for buses
BuzzFeed News' Joshua Hersh is reporting that thousands of people are now running across fields towards buses.
Wow just one mad scene after another. Thousands of people broke police cordon in Tovarnik, Croatia -- sprinting across fields to buses.
Fights breaking out in Tavernik as police struggle control desperate situation. Mayhem in the EU @Channel4News
Chaos at Tavornik station, just over border in Croatia. Hundreds penned in, demanding to leave. Police letting women and children go.
Croatian riot police escort toddlers out of the chaos at Tavernik station. It's getting pretty hectic @Channel4News
This man can't find his brother. #Croatia #Tovarnik @5_News
BuzzFeed News' Joshua Hersh is on the Croatia-Serbia border.
The new, "official" route to Croatia from Serbia. A 2.5km walk. It's 97 degrees out (F).
Some 6,200 people had entered Croatia by Thursday morning following Hungary's decision to close its border with Serbia, Croatian police said.
Refugees and migrants are trying to pass through the country on their way to the European Union's borderless Schengen area after Hungary used gas, batons, and water cannons to prevent them crossing into its territory, AP reported.
After bus trips from Serbia, thousands of people crossed Croatian fields on foot and were then directed to buses and trains that took them to centers in Zagreb and other cities. Warnings were issued to prevent people walking along the Serbian border, where the ground still contains land mines from the 1991–95 Balkan war, AP said.
Most refugees and migrants are unlikely to stay in Croatia, which is not in the Schengen zone, and are likely to head to Slovenia, then on through to Austria, Germany, and Scandinavia. However, they may have difficulties in passing through Slovenia, as The Guardian reported:
Slovenia's interior minister, Vesna Gyorkos Znidar, has meanwhile said it will not create a "safe corridor" for refugees to pass through on their way to Germany and Scandinavia but will receive asylum requests and accommodate them.
Slovenia to reinstate control at border with Hungary at midnight, PM Cerar says checks on border with Croatia in line with Schengen regime
Austria also introduced border controls with Slovenia Wednesday, The Guardian said.
On Thursday, Slovenia said it would also close its border with Hungary for 10 days.
Meanwhile Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto responded to criticism his government have received from the international community — including from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — over authorities' response to Wednesday's border crisis, AP reported, saying:
I find it bizarre and shocking that certain esteemed international figures have stood on the side of people who for hours were throwing stones and pieces of cement at the Hungarian police. And I'd also like to make it very clear, no matter what criticism I receive, that we will never allow such aggressive people to enter Hungary. Not even for transit purposes.
Hungarian police said they had detained 22 people over the clashes. Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said Thursday that a Syrian man who was an "organizer" of the unrest is one of those arrested, and is suspected of "carrying out an act of terrorism," AP reported.
Manfred Schmidt — the German official in charge of migration in the country — quit his post Thursday, the New York Times reported.
BREAKING: Germany’s top migration official has stepped down. http://t.co/HZ41B9mgVD
On Schmidt's decision to leave the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, the Times said:
Germany's Interior Ministry, responsible for the migration office, said that Mr. Schmidt, 56, had cited "personal reasons" for his decision to leave the position he has held for five years.
BuzzFeed News reporter Joshua Hersh was at Serbia's border with Hungary on Wednesday and witnessed the clashes. Read his full report here.
For a broader geopolitical look at what's behind the exodus of Syrian refugees, check out this piece from BuzzFeed News correspondents Borzou Daragahi and Max Seddon exploring Russia's involvement in the Syrian civil war.
A spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said he was "alarmed by the disturbing events" on Hungary's border with Serbia. He also released a statement from UNHCR:
Alarmed by disturbing events at the border w/Serbia #UNHCR calls on #Hungary for unimpeded access to asylum
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his government is preparing to erect fences on the country's border with Croatia, where many refugees have begun heading after Hungary shutdown its border with Serbia.
In an interview with German newspaper Die Presse, Orban said that "there are already plans" for the fence along the Croatian and Romanian borders with Hungary.
"The real power is not in the fence," he said. "We have new laws with harsh penalties for illegal migrants. And we have sent to the border police and the army. This should make it clear that although migrants can apply for asylum, they must adhere to rules."
Orban said that by trying to choose the country in which they apply for asylum, the refugees were not adhering to international law.
When asked if he was satisfied with his country's fence on the Serbian border, Orban replied: "Satisfied is a shunned expression in Hungarian politics. Who would be so crazy to say that we are satisfied when countless migrants are coming and we have to stop them? Satisfaction is something for the Rolling Stones."
The Hungarian leader said he believed Muslims posed a threat to Europe's traditional Christian identity. "Despite sincere efforts by Western governments, Muslim communities have not integrated," he said. "If a nation wants parallel societies, then she has the right to do so. We Hungarians do not want parallel societies."
He added, "If you allow Muslims in our continent, they will soon be more than us."
Serbian officials have protested Hungary's use of tear gas and water cannons against refugees and migrants, the Associated Press reported.
Hungarian riot police had been trying to stop refugees and migrants from entering the country from Serbia.
Speaking on state television, Serbian minister Aleksandar Vulin expressed "the harshest possible protest" over the actions of Hungarian police, according to the AP.
"Hungary must show it is ready and capable to accept these people," he said.
With Hungary's border with Serbia closed, migrants and refugees have been heading instead for the Serbia's border with Croatia. Read more about their new route through Europe here.
Photos from reporters at Hungary's border with Serbia show police clashing with the refugees and migrants.
Some of the refugees hurled stones and rocks at the riot police.
Hungarian officials deployed tear gas, in addition to water cannon, to quell the unrest.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said his government would hire 900 additional police and security officials to deal with the refugee crisis.
Face à la situation actuelle, nous avons décidé de créer 900 postes de policiers et de gendarmes supplémentaires. #réfugiés
Valls also said France would open welcome centers for refugees in the countries where many first arrive from the Middle East, including Italy, Greece, and Hungary.
Nous allons mettre en place des centres d’accueil et d’enregistrement dans les pays de première entrée : Italie, Grèce, Hongrie. #réfugiés
"To say, 'We must close them out,' is to close our eyes to the refugees who are dying at our doorstep," Valls said.
Dire « il faut tout fermer », c'est fermer les yeux sur les #réfugiés qui meurent à nos portes.
"To say, 'We must be open to them all,' is to close your eyes to the difficulties of French society."
Dire « il faut tout ouvrir », c'est fermer les yeux sur les difficultés de la société française. #réfugiés
A live stream from ABC News showed smoke billowing from fires lit on Hungary's border with Serbia.
Situation deteriorating on #Serbia border: after water cannon & tear gas, now fires lit, rocks thrown. #refugees
Footage also showed young men standing on the roof of a duty free shop, hurling objects.
Amnesty International has released this video of its workers inspecting Hungary's fortified border with Serbia on Tuesday.
View this video on YouTube
Hungarian police deployed water cannons and used tear gas on refugees and others in clashes at the country's now-closed border with Serbia Wednesday afternoon.
Water cannon in action
The incident at the Horgos border crossing came shortly after a number of people broke through the new razor wire fence along the border, causing police to deploy pepper spray, AP reported.
Prior to this, some women had moved to the the front of the crowd holding children above their heads in an appeal for mercy and for border guards to let them cross.
Heavy use of tear gas now to disperse crowd at #Horgos border gate. @5_News
BREAKING: Tear gas clearing the border gate at #Horgos. @5_News
Washing the tear gas off with coke, tried and true (but a little shocking at the doorstep to Europe).
After Hungary closed its border with Serbia Tuesday, a large number of refugees changed their route into the European Union's borderless Schengen zone Wednesday, and are now traveling through Croatia. Read more here.
Hungarian police on Tuesday briefly detained an AP journalist who had filmed an incident between officers and a migrant near Roszke.
Luca Muzi, a freelance journalist with the Associated Press, was detained by Hungarian police and forced to delete his video footage, according to the news organization.
Muzi was filming refugees near Roszke when officer moved in to stop people from walking further while a muzzled police dog attacked a Syrian man, knocking him to the ground, according to the AP. Police forced Muzi to delete the footage, which included two days worth of work. They also refused to let Muzi call his editors or the two other AP journalists working with him, he said.
In a statement, Senior Managing Editor for AP's International News John Daniszewski called the officers' behavior "unacceptable," adding that he hopes Hungarian and European officers "respect the rights of journalists to perform their jobs in covering the migrants and refugees, as well as their interactions with authorities, without interference"
Kovacs disputed the account on Tuesday, denying any allegations that officers forced Muzi to delete footage or that they had earlier let a dog attack a refugee.
BuzzFeed News has reached out to Muzi for comment.
Turkish coast guards said at least 22 people died when a boat traveling from the resort town of Ducla towards Kos, Greece capsized in the Aegean Sea, the privately owned Dogan News Agency reported.
The vessel — an old wooden tourist boat — was carrying more than 200 people when it capsized.
Four children and 11 women were among the dead, and 211 people were rescued, coastguards said.
Survivors were taken back to port in Bodrum, Turkey, where ambulances were waiting to take them to the hospital, Dogan reported.
Hungary implemented tough new laws and closed its border with Serbia overnight Monday in a bid to stem the flow of refugees and migrants into the country.
Here are today's developments from the Hungarian-Serbian border. You can read more here.
* The new laws will allow Hungarian police to arrest and charge anyone illegally crossing the country's border from Serbia — the outer frontier of the EU's borderless Schengen area. * Hungarian authorities said 60 people had been arrested under the new legislation Tuesday afternoon, and that they planned to press charges. * Hungary completed its new razor wire border fence Monday, and sealed off a popular railway crossing overnight. * The new legislation has deemed Serbia a "safe" country, and will allow Hungary to deport refugees there. However, a Serbian minister said they would not accept any people turned back from Hungary, and that the crossing would have to be reopened. * Hungary declared a state of emergency in two southern counties Tuesday, which would allow them to send in the military to help police at the border. * Long queues have formed at the Hungarian-Serbian border. Dozens of refugees were filmed chanting for Hungary to open the border Tuesday afternoon, while others went on hunger strike. * The EU border agency Frontex said Tuesday that 500,000 migrants had crossed into the union's borders in the first eight months of 2015.
Hungarian police closed a major refugee crossing area near Roszke.
More army now at Roszke border crossing. Press have been moved back. The gap in the fence is being narrowed.
Hungarian police stopped hundreds of refugees seeking to enter Hungary along the rail line near Roszke by setting up a razor wire line across the tracks, according to the AP. Police told the refugees to walk to Hungary's nearest approved border crossing about one mile away.
Pope Francis warned in a radio interview Monday that militants posing as refugees could sneak into Europe.
Pope Francis discussed the potential risk of ISIS militants coming into Europe along with other refugees in an interview broadcasted Monday with the Portuguese Catholic broadcaster Radio Renascenca, according to Reuters.
"Nowadays, territorial security conditions are not the same as they were in other periods (of mass migration)," he said. "The truth is that just 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Sicily there is an incredibly cruel terrorist group. So there is a danger of infiltration, this is true."
In northern Greece, a large crowd of migrants and refugees gathered near the village of Idomeni to cross into Macedonia.
Thirty-four people — including children and infants — drowned Sunday off the coast of Greece, the Greek coast guard said.
In a statement, Greek Marine Minister Christos Zois described the deaths off the island of Farmakonisi as a shocking tragedy. He called for a coordinated European strategy to handle the refugee and migrant crisis in a way to preserve human life and dignity.
Almost half of those who died when the wooden boat overturned were children, including three infants, five girls, and six boys. The nationalities of the dead were not immediately known.
It appeared to be the largest death toll in Greek waters since the recent mass migration of Syrian refugees began, Reuters reported.
According to the coast guard, 68 other people from the boat were rescued and 30 others from the boat were found to have made it to the island.
Germany's national rail service, Deutsche Bahn, announced Sunday it would be suspending rail service between Austria and Germany for 12 hours on the instructions of federal authorities.
Germany will temporarily reintroduce border controls as it struggles to cope with a flood of thousands of refugees and migrants from neighboring Austria, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said Sunday.
In a statement on Facebook, the minister said the focus of border controls will be with Austria, with the hope that such a measure will help authorities bring more order and control to the current tide of thousands.
Border controls go against the European Union's Schengen system, which mandates free and open travel between member states.
However, Germany says the temporary measures are necessary because of the "great helpfulness" the country has shown in welcoming so many refugees.
"The introduction of temporary border controls will not solve all the problems. We know that," De Maizière said. "But we need just a little more time and a certain degree of order at our borders."
The minister also called on other E.U. member nations to "abide by the rules" that mandate refugees must apply for asylum in the country in which they first arrive.
The new border controls will allow Germany to turn away migrants who are not refugees fleeing war or persecution, according to the New York Times.
Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel had warned earlier on Sunday that the country was "nearing the brink" in terms of the support it could offer refugees.
Police in Munich said more than 12,200 refugees and migrants arrived in Munich alone on Saturday, while the country received 36,422 applications for asylum in August.
Aid groups hope the global attention currently flowing to the Syrian crisis also leads to a focus on something else: those still in Syria.
More than 12,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Munich Saturday, police said, as authorities warned the German city may be nearing the limit of how many new arrivals it can house.
Writing on Twitter, Munich Police said 12,200 refugees and migrants arrived in the city in one day on Saturday. "The outpouring of help from Munich residents is still impressive!" police said.
Gestern am 12.09.2015 kamen 12200 #Flüchtlinge in #München an. Die zahlreiche Hilfe der Münchner ist nach wie vor beeidruckend!
However, a police spokesman told the BBC authorities had "reached the upper limit of [their] capacity," with officials scrambling to find accommodation for the new arrivals in Munich, which has been the main entry point for migrants into Germany.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has openly welcomed the refugees into Germany, but Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel used an interview with Der Tagesspiegel newspaper on Sunday to warn that his country may be nearing "the brink."
"It is true that European inaction in the refugee crisis now also brings Germany to the brink of what is possible," he said. "It is not primarily the number of refugees, but the speed in which they come to give the German states and municipalities that is so hard to manage."
He called on Germany and the European Union to put together a $1.5 billion humanitarian assistance package of food, shelter, and education programs. Gabriel also called on the Arab Gulf States and the U.S. to match the package.
Gabriel, who is also Germany's minister for energy and the economy, said a new relationship with Russia is needed in order to reignite political efforts to negotiate an end to the Syrian civil war, which he said was the cause of the refugee exodus.
"The keys to ending the war in Syria are in Moscow and Washington," he said.
An NBC reporter took a photo of a young girl offering a Hungarian policeman a cookie during a standoff on the railway tracks near Szeged, Hungary on Tuesday.
During standoff on railway tracks near Szeged, a young refugee offers a cookie to a Hungarian police officer.
The girl and her family were part of a group of people that ran north from Röszke camp on Monday. The policeman refused the cookie, according to the NBC reporter Carlo Angerer.
Footage has emerged of Hungarian police officers throwing food at a crowd of refugees in a detention camp in Roszke, near the border with Serbia.
Michaela Spritzendorfer-Ehrenhauser, who was delivering aid to the camp and is the wife of Austrian Green Party politician Alexander Spritzendorfer, filmed the scenes. Journalists are not allowed inside the camp by Hungarian authorities, Sky News reported.
Officers — some of whom are seen wearing riot helmets, while others wear surgical masks — were filmed tossing bags of food to refugees, who were separated by temporary wire fences. Hungarian authorities said they were investigating the incident, according to the BBC.
Spritzendorfer-Ehrenhauser told the BBC that the refugees were being treated like "animals":
These people have been on a terrible tour for three months Most of them have been across the sea now and on the boat and through the forest and they've gone through terrible things and we, as Europe, we keep them there in camps like animals. It's really a responsibility of European politicians to open the borders now.
Emergency Director of Human Rights Watch Peter Bouckaert tweeted that the situation at the Roszke camp is "inhumane."
"Feeding time" for #SyrianRefugees inside Roszke 1 detention camp in #Hungary. Inhumane. https://t.co/wxxva0Qzwc
In a video posted Wednesday, Bouckaert described the camps as a "place of absolute humiliation" and said refugees were "kept in pens, like animals."
View this video on YouTube
One tweet from a city in Germany caused thousands of Syrian Refugees to march from Hungary
As hundreds of Syrian refugees camped out in the plaza of Budapest's Keleti train station last week, a single tweet from a government agency in the southern German city of Nuremberg changed their lives forever.
"We are at present largely no longer enforcing Dublin-procedures for Syrian citizens," the tweet said, posted on the account of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
#Dublin-Verfahren syrischer Staatsangehöriger werden zum gegenwärtigen Zeitpunkt von uns weitestgehend faktisch nicht weiter verfolgt.
Though written in German, the tweet was quickly circulated online and by word of mouth, confirming suspicious that Germany was no longer enforcing asylum rules requiring refugees to be processed at entry to the country.
The Syrian internet quickly exploded with praise for Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, while the hundreds waiting to leave Hungary began the march toward the German border that caught the world's attention.
Refugee advocates say President Obama’s plan to take in 10,000 additional Syrians is good – but not enough.
"The White House's pledge," Oxfam's Vice President for Police and Campaigns, Paul O'Brien, told BuzzFeed News, "is a start but it just scratches the surface. The US can and must do more to help ensure that thousands of Syrians fleeing violence have the safety and security they need."
Read the full report here.
President Obama has directed the State Department to begin planning to accept 10,00 refugees from Syria in the upcoming fiscal year, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday.
White House @PressSec: @POTUS has directed team to make preparations to accept 10K #refugees from #Syria in FY16. http://t.co/eygoAbUAAT
Another wave of refugees entered Keleti station in Budapest on Thursday, hoping to travel to Austria.
Keleti, Budapest: Long queues to board trains to reach the bordering town near #Austria
BuzzFeed News' Rossalyn Warren interviewed refugees at the Greece-Macedonia border who spoke of the sacrifices they made and the dreams put on hold when they fled their respective home countries.
A Unicef representative told BuzzFeed News that it expected 20,000 more refugees to pass through Gevgelija over the next several days. Here is how that volume compares to other capacities:
Denmark closed cross-border road and rail routes from Germany for several hours on Wednesday following a surge in refugees attempting to get to Sweden.
The highway connecting the Danish peninsula Jutland to Germany was closed Wednesday when around 300 migrants, including children, began walking along it, Reuters reported.
It was reopened Thursday, but some limits on traffic remained.
The country's train operator also said it would resume cross-border rail services from Germany Thursday after they were suspended following a standoff between refugees and police, AFP reported.
Scandinavia's busiest ferry crossing to Germany — at Rodby, Denmark — would remain closed to trains following the refugee surge, authorities said, according to AFP.
On Thursday, Danish authorities backtracked on their earlier decision to insist all refugees and migrants registered in the country, and said they would not prevent people transiting through the country on their way to other Nordic nations, AP said.
"We can't detain foreigners who do not want to seek asylum (in Denmark). Therefore, there is no other option than to let them go, and we cannot prevent them from traveling wherever they want," police chief Jens Henrik Hoejbjerg said Thursday.
BuzzFeed News' Josh Hersch spoke with the Iraqi family whose photograph of them arriving in Greece went viral. They had previously identified as Syrian in order to have more freedom of movement on their journey to Germany.
Danish train operator DSB announced Wednesday it was canceling trains to and from Germany amid the refugee crisis due to "passport controls" at the border.
Unlike Austria and Germany, Denmark has attempted to prevent refugees coming into the country in recent days.
In addition to taking out Arabic language ads in Lebanese newspapers to warn migrants not to seek refuge in Denmark, Danish police returned a group of refugees to Germany on Tuesday.
The country has also begun issuing temporary resident permits and slashed welfare payments to new immigrants, Agence France-Presse reported.
The Australian government announced Wednesday it will resettle 12,000 refugees fleeing Syria and Iraq.
Read the full story from BuzzFeed Oz:
BuzzFeed News' Rossalyn Warren spoke to some of the younger refugees at the border. She found that their tragic circumstances have not stopped them from planning for their futures.
One young Afghan woman named Maria told BuzzFeed News that before she fled her home country, she studied theatre and English, despite her father's disappointment with her career path.
Maria said she had "many family problems." Her father attempted to force her into marriage. She said she was deeply unhappy there.
As Maria boarded a train headed for Germany, she told BuzzFeed News that she planned to continue writing once she resettled.
"Writing makes me happy," she said.
BuzzFeed News' Joshua Hersh caught up with the Iraqi family whose photograph of their arrival in Kos went viral. In Berlin, they met the man who took the photo, and talked about their harrowing journey from Baghdad, as well as their plans for the future.
The moment when a refugee family reunited with @DanielEtterFoto, who documented their dramatic arrival in Kos http://t.co/w9rd0be36U
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker used a speech in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday to call for "compulsory" quotas for member nations taking in refugees.
Juncker's talk of "compulsory" quotas in the speech he delivered marked a stronger choice of language than that used in the text version published on the EU's website, The Guardian reported.
The text version said:
Today we are proposing a second emergency mechanism to relocate a further 120,000 from Italy, Greece, and Hungary.This requires a strong effort in European solidarity. Before the summer, we did not receive the backing from Member States I had hoped for. But I see that the mood is turning. And I believe it is high time for this.
I call on Member States to adopt the Commission proposals on the emergency relocation of altogether 160,000 refugees at the Extraordinary Council of Interior Ministers on 14 September.
We now need immediate action. We cannot leave Italy, Greece and Hungary to fare alone. Just as we would not leave any other EU Member State alone. For if it is Syria and Libya people are fleeing from today, it could just as easily be Ukraine tomorrow.
Europe has made make the mistake in the past of distinguishing between Jews, Christians, Muslims. There is no religion, no belief, no philosophy when it comes to refugees.
The following chart details the migrant quotas, broken down by country. Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom all have the right to opt-out. The British government has no plans to opt-in to the scheme announced by Juncker, The Guardian said.
Those migrant quotas by country. (Ireland, which has opt-out, says it will accept at least 600 relocated migrants.)
BuzzFeed News' Rossalyn Warren is back on Macedonia's border with Greece, meeting refugees as they attempt to cross.
I met these 8 year old twins from Afghanistan heading to Germany. They wore matching outfits and liked sweets.
Updated estimations from the United Nations Human Rights Commission, released on Tuesday, suggest that European countries should expect as many as 500,000 additional refugees to enter in 2016. Read the BuzzFeed News story here.
Several of the approximately 2,000 families who arrived in Macedonia by train came from Afghanistan.
Volunteers were stationed near the train and began distributing provisions such as children's shoes, food, water, and basic toiletries. They told BuzzFeed News that they had organized largely through social media.
Despite the conditions under which the refugees arrived, the families still carried out deliberate acts of kindness.
I saw one refugee family offered a bag of food. They declined, saying that another family "may need it more" than them. Utter selflessness.
The rising temperature has also taken a toll on the younger refugees.
This child in red ran off the train, lay on the floor, and began crying. His father said it was because of the heat.
BuzzFeed News' Rossalyn Warren has arrived in Macedonia, where she will be reporting as refugees attempt to cross the border from Greece.
Hello from Macedonia. I'm on the Serbian border, where 2,000 refugees will be arriving by train shortly.
A record 7,000 Syrian refugees arrived in Macedonia on Monday, while some 30,000 are on the Greek islands, including 20,000 on Lesbos alone, a UNHCR spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, Melissa Fleming said European nations must offer guaranteed relocation to Syrian refugees, Reuters reported.
"Discussions in Europe this week are taking on even greater urgency because it obviously cannot be a German solution to a European problem."
"Those can only work if there is a guaranteed relocation system whereby European countries saying yes will take X number. We believe it should be 200,000 — that's the number we believe need relocation in Europe countries," she added.
Fleming welcomed Monday's pledges by France and the U.K. to take in more refugees, but said reception centers were needed in countries such as Greece and Hungary.
Lesbos has had to set up makeshift refugee registration in a field today. Thousands queuing in baking heat #greece
Germany would be able to take in at least 500,000 refugees a year for the next few years, the country's Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said in a TV interview Monday evening.
Speaking on ZDF public television last night, Gabriel said: "I believe we could surely deal with something in the order of half a million for several years. I have no doubt about that, maybe more," according to AFP.
However, he reiterated Chancellor Angela Merkel's call yesterday for other European Union nations to take their share of asylum-seekers: "We can't just take almost one million people every year and seamlessly integrate them," he said.
However, he insisted that Germany would continue to take a "greatly disproportionate share" as it is an "economically strong country."
The U.K. will take in up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday.
According to the AP, Cameron, speaking to Parliament, said that the country has a "moral responsibility" to step in, adding that children in need and orphans will get priority.
"We are proposing that Britain should resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the rest of this Parliament," Cameron said according to the BBC.
"In doing so we will continue to show the world that this country is a country of extra compassion, always standing up for our values and helping those in need."
David Cameron has also revealed that he authorized an RAF mission to target and kill a British-born Isis fighter in Syria. Read the Buzzfeed News story here.
BuzzFeed News' Hussein Kesvani has been following refugees as they travelled between Hungary and Austria over the weekend. Here, he reports on how Hungarian authorities have been holding hundreds of refugees, including children, behind wire fences.
My last dispatch on the refugee crisis, on how Hungary is stopping more refugees coming to Austria: http://t.co/jNIIrHSf1l
Scuffles erupted between Macedonian police and a group of refugees attempting to cross the border from Greece on Monday.
Some 2,000 people had gathered near the Greek border village of Idomeni, wanting to cross into Macedonia. However, Macedonian authorities were only allowing small groups to cross every 30 minutes, which caused tensions, AP reported.
By around midday local time, around 1,000 people had crossed the border, with tensions easing after authorities allowed more people to cross at a time.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) to deal with the "breathtaking" number of migrants who have arrived in the country in recent days.
The extra money would be used to speed up asylum procedures and build extra housing, the BBC reported.
Merkel spoke of "a moving — in some parts breathtaking — weekend," and echoed French President François Hollande's earlier call for other European Union nations to share the burden of the influx of refugees.
"Germany is a country willing to take people in, but refugees can be received in all countries of the European Union in such a way that they can find refuge from civil war and from persecution," she said, AP reported.
Some 20,000 refugees and migrants — many fleeing conflict in places such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Eritrea — are estimated to have arrived in Germany over the weekend, with a further 11,000 expected to arrive on Monday, according to the BBC.
Earlier, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban responded to criticism of his government's response to the crisis by other leaders, and called his country the "black sheep" of the EU family.
"We represent the position of what the Americans call 'first things first,'" he told reporters in Budapest. "As long as we are unable to defend Europe's external borders, it makes no sense to talk about the fate of the immigrants."
French President Francois Hollande told a news conference in Paris Monday that France will accept 24,000 more refugees over two years, and that the crisis facing Europe can and will be solved.
[LIVE] #ConfPR : Hollande says #France will accept 24,000 #refugees http://t.co/LdSF5PnOUj
"This is a crisis, and it is a grave and dramatic one. It can be brought under control and it will be," he said, Reuters reported.
He reiterated the desire he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have for a coordinated plan backed by the 28-country European Union for each nation to take its fair share of 120,000 refugees.
He also claimed that the EU's Schengen zone — which ensures free cross-border movement between participating countries — "would collapse" without a united policy on the current migration, AFP reported.
"Cette crise doit être réglée, elle le sera avec le concours de la France" @fhollande #ConfPR
"Face à ces drames j'ai proposé un mécanisme permanent et obligatoire d'accueil des réfugiés avec une répartition entre les pays" #ConfPR
Hollande added that French planes would launch reconnaissance flights over Syria on Tuesday, with a view to launching airstrikes against ISIS in the country, the BBC reported.
He said that he held Syrian President Bashar al-Assad responsible for the situation in the country, France24 reported.
The pope has said that "every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe" should take in a refugee family.
Speaking at the Angelus prayer from the Vatican on Sunday, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church addressed the refugee crisis and urged parishes to help those who are "victims of war and hunger and setting out on the path to a better life," the BBC reported.
BuzzFeed News' Hussein Kesvani spoke with refugees and volunteers in Vienna. Abdel Hussain, 28, was one of the thousands of refugees who decided to march from Keleti station to the Austrian-Hungarian border on Friday. He said that he had no choice but to travel there, and that "Hungary was not helping any of the refugees."
Read Kesvani's full report here.
Many of the refugees are carrying little more than their clothes on their backs. Some have shown their remaining possessions to workers with International Rescue Committee, an organization that helps resettle refugees.
Spain's Foreign Minister said his country would heed the call to accept a European Union-wide effort to relocate 120,000 refugees making their way through Europe.
Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Spain was "perfectly ready to accept its corresponding quota in the effort," though he offered no specifics.
He and Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy have said Spain would take in more than the 2,739 refugees it had previously agreed to, El Pais reported.
He did not say whether Spain was open to binding quotas proposed by German and France, or if he preferred the voluntary system that is in place.
Garcia-Margallo also said an informal meeting of European foreign ministers being held this weekend could be centered around possible asylum and immigration policies across the European Union, according to El Pais.
Munich police say 3,700 refugees have arrived in the city on Saturday.
Aktueller Stand am Hbf #München: bis jetzt sind heute 3700 #Flüchtlinge angekommen.
BuzzFeed News reporter Joshua Hersh is in Munich and filed this report: "Refugees Arrive In Germany But Many Are Already Thinking About Their Next Destination"
Munich police say some 3,000 migrants will arrive in the city on Saturday.
Bis 16:00 Uhr kamen heute 1500 #Flüchtlinge am Hbf #München an. Bis zum frühen Abend wird die 3000er Marke überschritten werden.
Here are some of the best photos that show the refugees and migrants celebrating their arrival in Germany.
The first group of what is expected to be several thousand refugees arrived in Germany on Saturday, after a delayed journey through Hungary and Austria.
The roughly 450 refugees, many of who are from Syria, arrived in Munich via train from Austria, after being bussed there by Hungarian authorities.
They were greeted by locals who applauded and cheered, while volunteers handed out food and supplies.
"Welcome to Germany" - People applaud & greet migrants as they arrive in Munich http://t.co/3Wk9ryrzib http://t.co/0rZqjFSFef
Germans at Munich railway station applauding refugees arrive - great atmosphere.
Thousands of refugees crossed into Austria from Hungary overnight, the Austrian Interior Minister said Saturday, after Hungarian officials bussed them to the border.
The surprise move came after the refugees, many originally from Syria, had begun walking to the border following days of Hungarian officials preventing them from traveling by train.
More than 3,000 people reached the border Friday night, according to the Austrian Interior Minister. By Saturday afternoon, the number had reached 6,500, the New York Times reported.
Officials have offered people the chance to claim formal asylum in Austria or continue to Germany, the preferred destination for many of the refugees. More than 2,000 have already continued to Germany, according to the Times.
"The focus of all our thoughts are currently on the health and care of these people, who have had to endure more than enough terrible experiences," Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said in a statement.
A second group of 1,000 refugees has also left the main train station in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, for the Austrian border, but a government spokesman told the BBC no further transport assistance would be provided.
Mikl-Leitner said the whole of Europe needs to "wake up" to the refugee crisis and agree to a coordinated response.
Police said Saturday morning that more than 1,000 refugees had crossed into Austria from Hungary.
Austrian police said that number could more than double over the course of the day, Reuters reported.
Images shared early Saturday showed the first buses filled with refugees arriving in Austria.
The first refugees crossed from Hungary to Austria shortly before dawn, according to journalists at the scene. They made the trip in the rain.
The images showed both adults and children huddled under blankets in a parking lot. The refugees had walked for as long as nine hours before finally being picked up by buses, according to reporters.
#Migrants step into a reception center in #Austria. Many walked as long as nine hours today before being picked up.
"Thank you. Thank you Austria" they say politely as they cross the border.
Hungary March makes it to austria. First bus load.
#Migrants on this bus said they had walked nine hours today. Now, shortly before dawn, they are arriving in #Austria.
About 25 buses arrived at Budapest's Keliti train station around 1 a.m. Saturday to assist in transporting the refugees to the Austrian border. The move came after thousands of refugees left the station on Friday, declaring they would walk to the Austrian border.
Most people in the station appeared weary and tired after 3 weeks of irregular sleep in a hot, stuffy, and squalid environment including on the station floor. While most of the refugees, especially young men, were happy about leaving (some gave peace signs to TV news cameras) other refugees wept as they packed their belongings.
According to some reports, buses are not allowing more refugees on the vehicles than is legally allowed.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann announced on Facebook late Friday that, after a conversation with his German counterpart, both of their countries will allow Syrian migrants to move across their borders.
Faymann said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel reached the decision after speaking with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. It comes as approximately 1,000 Syrians, fleeing their own war-torn nation, have started a 154-mile march from Keleti station in Budapest to Vienna.
Austria had previously warned that it would not allow all the migrants to cross its border, but since then, a swell of public outcry has risen, with thousands of Europeans offering to provide assistance — be it supplies or private transportation — to the fleeing Syrians.
In his announcement, Faymann also said he expected Hungary to meet its European obligations, including those outlined in the Dublin convention, which addresses the handling of refugees and asylum seekers. He also called on the European Commission to create an emergency mechanism to fairly distribute the Syrian migrants among member nations.
European citizens have been providing food, other help for exhausted refugees marching to Austria.
Beau: Amazing! Ordinary Hungarians stop by the highway to hand out food and water to #refugees. W/@arwaCNN ”
"@RichardEngel: Two Hungarian girls hand out food and toys to children of refugees and migrants. A very sweet image. "
Local residents of a #Hungarian town support #refugees walking to W.Europe with water, food and baby carriages.
More than a thousand Syrians marching from Hungary to Austria Friday were met by Hungarians bearing food and supplies along the route.
Meanwhile, thousands of Austrians had organized a social media campaign for those promising to pick up the marching refugees in private cars and buses. The "Convoy Budapest Vienna - Schienenersatzverkehr for Refugees" had nearly 3,000 confirmed participants as of early Saturday.
The plan included meeting the refugees at the Austria-Hungary border, then driving them the rest of the way to Vienna in whatever cars and vans people could bring. For more on the outpouring of assistance from citizens, click here.
If refugees did make the walk from Budapest to Vienna, here's how comparatively long that would be:
Hungarian officials announce they will provide busses to transport migrants to the Austrian border, the AP reported.
Buses to be sent to take highway refugees to border bc Hungarians' "transportation safety can't be put at risk," said PM's aide - @AP
All four lanes of the M1 Highway in Hungary were temporarily closed earlier by police as refugees marched from Budapest towards the Austrian border. Some people began settling for the night along the roads.
On the motorway from Budapest #migrants settle down for the night #migrantcrisis
This GIF shows just how big the refugee crisis has grown since 2011:
This map — drawn from data from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the European Union's Frontex border patrol, and the International Organization of Migration — shows that each year, the number of people trying to reach Europe has been increasing, causing the total since 2011 to swell before hitting the peak that we're now seeing. In some cases, the number of those attempting to cross the border has doubled from year to year.
Read more here.
Several hundred people stranded at the Bicske train station have started to walk to the Austrian border, according to Reuters.
A Pakistani migrant died on Friday after falling onto the railway tracks at a train station in Bicske, Reuters reported.
Police said they did not chase the group. The man fell about 800 meters from the station and hit his head on the tracks.
Rights group Amnesty International said on Friday that its researchers witnessed a "violent attack" by "thugs" on refugees on the Greek island of Kos, and spoke of the "dire conditions" they face. They claim police used tear gas on refugees.
In a statement Friday, Amnesty claims a group of 15–25 people brandishing bats physically attacked refugees and activists Thursday night, shouting "go back to your countries."
Amnesty researcher Kondylia Gogou said: "Last night's violent attack once again throws into sharp relief the danger to refugees and activists who help them. Action must be taken now at all levels to ensure they are protected."
The statement said that police did not stop the group until physical attacks began, and then they used teargas to disperse the crowd.
Refugees waiting at Police station Kos. Day after day, night after night..
Local police denied they used teargas, but admitted they used pepper spray to break up a crowd of around 1,000 who had gathered outside a police station, and said the refugees threw stones at officers, Ekathimerini reported.
Amnesty said: "Researchers found children as young as a week old among the crowds forced to wait for days in baking heat to be registered by the local authorities, and interviewed unaccompanied minors being detained in deplorable conditions alongside adults."
With resources on the island stretched, citizen volunteers have stepped in to provide servicse to the 7,000 refugees on Kos, which normally has a population of 30,000, the BBC said.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron discussed allocating an additional £100 million of aid to refugees on Friday, saying:
We must pursue a comprehensive approach to these issues. That means using our aid budget to alleviate poverty and suffering in the countries where these people are coming from. The UK is the only major country in the world that has kept its promise to the poorest to spend 0.7% of our GDP on aid. We're already the second largest bilateral donor of aid to the Syrian conflict, and today I can announce that we will provide a further £100m taking our total contribution to over £1 billion. That is the UK's largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis. No other European country has come close to this level of support.Sixty million pounds of this additional funding will go to help Syrians still in Syria. The rest will go to neighbouring countries — Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon — where Syrian refugees now account for one quarter of the population. Britain's aid is supporting these camps. If we were not doing that the numbers attempting the dangerous journey to Europe would be far, far higher.
BuzzFeed News' Hussein Kesvani — who's following refugees attempting to walk from Budapest to the Austrian border — has described how Hungarian authorities have been struggling to deal with the march, and how the refugees have been navigating their route.
Refugees have broken through police barricade on highway
#MigrantMarch continuing towards #Austria. #Hungary-ian police have no clue what to do. http://t.co/RekXNbzFwx
Walking still continuing and most people relying on iPhone GPS and walking routes to avoid kettling
The Council of Europe on Friday criticised British Prime Minister David Cameron's response to the refugee crisis, saying that the U.K. is doing "much less" than other European countries.
On Friday morning, David Cameron confirmed that the U.K. would take "thousands" more refugees. Despite this, the Council of Europe — the European 47-nation human rights body — expressed "serious concern" over his position on refugees.
The council's commissioner for human rights, Nils Muiznieks, said:
While it is true that long-term peace should be brought to Syria and other war-torn countries, it is also true that the UK has a legal and moral obligation to offer shelter to those who flee war and persecution.The truth is that at the moment the UK is doing much less than other European countries, like Germany or Sweden, which give refuge to thousands of Syrians.
Additional tragedies and shocking pictures could be avoided if political leaders had the courage and determination to uphold human rights standards and common European values.
BuzzFeed News' Hussein Kesvani is in Hungary following a large group of refugees leaving the capital, Budapest, on foot with the aim of reaching the Austrian border.
March to Austria now started
Some refugees including Muhammad are bringing their children with them. "Hungary cannot help" he says
Has Europe seen such a sad column of refugees, young and old marching with all they have left, since the Balkans war?
People have said the trail of refugees trying to leave is over 1km
The distance between Budapest and Vienna is 216 kilometers, or 134 miles.
Police sources told BuzzFeed News that Hungarian authorities do not want to prevent the refugees from traveling to the Austrian border.
Police source tells me they are just trying to provide safe passage for refugees and no plans to stop them travelling to Austrian border
Austrian police said Friday that the 71 migrants and refugees found dead in a truck on a highway near the Hungarian border Friday most likely died of suffocation, AP reported.
The police spokesperson said the number included Syrians, Iraqis, and Afghans. However, none have been identified.
None of the 71 refugees who died in truck abandoned in Austria identified, despite 300 tips, 17 passports & 40 cell phones found on bodies
The U.N. Refugee Agency confirmed that the U.K. will take a further 4,000 Syrian refugees.
Spokesperson Melissa Fleming told the AP: "We obviously welcome very much the move to increase resettlement spaces for Syrians in the U.K. Those spaces are going to be critical to the lives and future of 4,000 people."
In response to the photographs of drowned Syrian on the Turkish coast, Unicef has released a four-point plan on how to manage to refugee and migrant crisis in Europe.
In a statement made by executive director Anthony Lake, Unicef urged that the following measures be taken to help the 2 million children that have fled Syria:
1. Protect these children through the provision of essential services at all times – including health care, food, emotional support, and education – and adequate shelter for migrants and refugees that keeps families together. 2. Deploy adequate numbers of trained child welfare experts to support children and their families. 3. Continue search and rescue operations – not only at sea, but also on land, as families move across countries – and make every effort to prevent the abuse and exploitation of migrant and refugee children. 4. Put the best interests of children first in all decisions made regarding these children – including in asylum cases.
The bodies of 3-year-old drowned refugee Aylan Kurdi, his 5-year-old brother, Galip, and their mother, Rehan, have been buried in their hometown of Kobani, Syria.
Farewell Alan, Ghalib and Rehana. Just burried. RIP. #AlanKurdi
David Cameron confirmed on Friday morning that the U.K. will take in "thousands" more Syrian refugees.
The prime minister said in a speech in Lisbon on Friday morning:
"We have already accepted around 5,000 Syrians and we have introduced a specific resettlement scheme, alongside those we already have, to help those Syrian refugees particularly at risk.
"As I said earlier this week, we will accept thousands more under these existing schemes and we keep them under review. And given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of the people, today I can announce that we will do more — providing resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees."
Read more: * David Cameron Confirms The U.K. Will Take In Thousands More Syrian Refugees
The body of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi — who was pictured drowned on a Turkish beach on Wednesday — have been flown from Mugla, Turkey, to Syria for his burial, along with those of his mother, Rehan, and his 5-year-old brother, Galip.
The boys' father, Abdullah, wept as he left the morgue in Mugla.
Authorities in Budapest's main train station are handing out forms to refugees, asking that they register. The forms provide free travel to refugee camps.
This is one of the forms handed to Syrian refugees in the station. Most here say they don't understand it
Refugees in Budapest showed BuzzFeed News reporter Hussein Kesvani the forms that many have been handed. Many of them said they "don't understand" what the forms detail.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said they plan to register all refugees entering its borders.
Szijjarto told reporters on Tuesday: "We plan to register all migrants regardless of the fact that we are not the first member state they enter. We will register everyone who submits the request for asylum and carry out the procedure."
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres has called for a coordinated Europe-wide mass relocation project to deal with the influx of migrant and refugees to the continent.
In a statement released Friday, Gutteres said "Europe is facing a moment of truth."
He added: "Europe cannot go on responding to this crisis with a piecemeal or incremental approach.
"No country can do it alone, and no country can refuse to do its part. It is no surprise that, when a system is unbalanced and dysfunctional, everything gets blocked when the pressure mounts."
The U.N.'s World Food Program (WFP) can no longer afford to deliver food aid to 200,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.
If you are 1 of the 229,000 @refugees in #Jordan that received these SMS'. No food frm @wfp this month or the future.
A senior regional communications officer for WFP in the Middle East told BuzzFeed News the organization has "done its best" to deliver food aid, but was forced to send text messages to more than 200,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan informing them they are no longer able to deliver them food.
Read more:
David Cameron is expected to announce later that the government will increase the number of refugees being allowed into Britain.
The BBC reported they will come from United Nations camps near Syria's border rather than people already in Europe.
The aunt of Aylan and Galip Kurdi has said their story should cause people to “step in and help refugees”.
Tima kurdi in tears speaks of her nephews who died trying to escape to canada.
Tima Kurdi, whose sister-in-law Rehan also died as the family tried to reach Greece earlier this week, spoke to the press in Coquitlam, Canada, on Thursday.
"Now the whole world is going to watch my story. Where was all the world before when my kids were hungry? When I didn't have a job?" the Toronto Star quoted her as saying.
"I want to tell the rest of the world, at this point, to step in and help the refugees."
Kurdi said she had tried to bring her family over to Canada from Syria at the start of the year.
When her brother Abdullah learned that his brother's application had been rejected he became desperate, Sky News reported.
"When Abdullah learned about our brother's rejected Canadian application, it became clear he also had to find a way to reach Western Europe," Kurdi said.
"There was no hope of collecting the appropriate paperwork for his family to be successful with an entry to Canada. It is too late to save Abdullah's family.
"I respectfully implore our government to work immediately to improve the application procedure based on the current humanitarian crisis."
The photographer who captured the images of Aylan Kurdi has said she was "petrified" when she saw the young boy on the beach.
Photographer Who Found Drowned Syrian Boy On Beach: “I Was Petrified” http://t.co/NPnkFXDHHw
"The only thing I could do was to make his outcry heard," Demir told Dogan News Agency (DNA).
"At that moment, I believed I would be able to achieve this by triggering the shutter of my camera and take his picture."
Children sleeping beneath a Hungarian flag have been seen in Keleti.
4 children sleeping under a blanket made from a Hungarian flag in front of #Keleti @bbc5live
Among refugees camped outside Keleti station in Hungary, where trains filled with asylum-seekers bound for Germany have been leaving today, a moving scene was depicted of four young children covered by a Hungarian flag as they sleep.
As darkness fell in Hungary, many refugees prepared for a night aboard the halted train at Bicske.
#hungary "stuck" train. Hunkering down for a long and uncomfortable night but say won't go 2 camp.
Those not aboard the train urged refugees to refuse to go to the nearby refugee camp at Bicske.
According to Channel 4 News, only 10% of asylum claims are granted in Hungary compared to 40% in Germany and refugees fear that registering at the camp will hinder their chances of asylum in Germany, where the train was heading, or other parts of Europe.
#Bicske refugees urging migrants on other platform to refuse to go to camp.
ITV news reported clashes with riot police as refugees refused to board a bus headed for the nearby camp.
Terrible scenes this pm as family with 2 small children refuse to get on bus. Children scream + run across car park
A letter distributed at the station, urging refugees to cooperate with the Hungarian authorities and take the buses to the camp, where food, water and medical attention would be offered was reportedly torn up and scattered across the platform.
Just distributed to people on the "stuck" #hungary train. Those on platform R ripping it up.
According to a New York Times reporter on the scene, refugees are planning how to keep watch through the long night ahead while others sleep.
The government of Canada says it never received an application for refugee status for the family of the drowned Syrian boys.
BREAKING: Canada denies it received refugee application for Syrian family that drowned off Turkey.
The sister of the boy's father told Canadian media that she had tried to sponsor her brother and his family to come to Canada where she lives, but their application was denied.
David Cameron has pledged to take thousands more refugees fleeing Syria, according to a report by The Guardian.
Government sources say it is right to respond to the terrible scenes seen on television. Details of scheme still being completed.
Following growing international and domestic pressure, Downing Street officials say the prime minister decided to take action following the release of photos of the drowned Syrian boys washed up on a Turkish coastline.
A White House petition is calling on the Obama administration to accept at least 65,000 refugees this year. The petition, published on Aug. 31, already has more than 4,600 of the 100,000 signatures it is trying to get.
Resettle Syrian Refugees in the U.SBy the end of April 2015 , the UN estimated 6.5 million people had been displaced in Syria, while more than +4 million refugees had fled to countries such as Lebanon (1.2 million), Jordan (608,000) and Turkey (1.75 million) and thousands more in Europe.
Germany expects to accept 800,000 asylum seekers this year, four times more than in 2014 and more than any other EU country. The US has so fare admitted less than 1000 Syrian refugees.
United States of America; the most powerful nation, the largest economy, and the champion of democracy and human rights should stands for its values .
The International Rescue Committee has argued for the U.S. to accept at least 65,000 refugees.
We are asking the President and the government to pledge to resettle at least 65,000 Syrians by 2016.
Abdullah Kurdi, the father of the drowned Syrian boy, visited his son's body at a morgue in Turkey on Thursday.
Abdullah Kurdi spoke to the AP:
Abdullah Kurdi said Thursday that the boat's captain panicked due to high waves and jumped into the sea, leaving him in control of the small craft with his family and other migrants aboard."I took over and started steering. The waves were so high and the boat flipped. I took my wife and my kids in my arms and I realized they were all dead," he said. The distraught father added: "All I want is to be with my children at the moment."
He said the small boat, headed for the Greek island of Kos, was overloaded with 12 migrants and the captain, described as a Turkish man. It was only at sea for four minutes before the captain abandoned the craft, Kurdi said.
"My kids were the most beautiful children in the world, wonderful, they wake me up every morning to play with them. They are all gone now," he said.
The number of Syrian asylum-seekers deported from Britain has increased year-on-year since the Arab Spring began in 2010.
Last year, 44 people were subject to enforced deportations, while 253 were refused entry at port. In 2011, 17 people were deported and 34 refused entry.
Read more: * Britain Deported Dozens Of Syrian Asylum-Seekers Last Year
Doctors Without Borders reported its busiest day Wednesday on the Mediterranean Sea since May 2, with about 1,658 people rescued.
From Doctors Without Borders:
The MSF boats Dignity I and Bourbon Argos together with the MY Phoenix, operated jointly with MOAS, yesterday rescued 1,658 people in MSF's biggest day of operations on the Mediterranean Sea since operations began on 2 May. In six separate rescue operations, the three search and rescue vessels brought on board people primarily from Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia, many of them women (547) and children (199), including many toddlers and babies.One of the people rescued by the Bourbon Argos was a pregnant woman who went into labour soon after being transferred onto the boat. MSF decided to call for an evacuation, and she was transferred to a speed boat operated by the Italian Coast Guard and brought to hospital.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday that his nation "will fulfill our moral responsibilities" in regards to the refugee crisis.
"Anyone who saw those pictures overnight could not help but be moved and, as a father, I felt deeply moved by the sight of that young boy on a beach in Turkey," Cameron said.
"Britain is a moral nation and we will fulfill our moral responsibilities."
"We do care," he said, adding, "we sent the Royal Navy to the Mediterranean to save lives."
Following a tense two day stand off following its closure, the main rail station in Budapest has opened its doors again to hundreds of refugees.
The Hungarian capital's Keleti international station closed it's doors and suspended international train journeys indefinitely after large numbers of refugees arrived to board trains to Vienna and southern Germany.
Earlier this week, Hungarian authorities prevented refugees from boarding trains, resulting in a number of protesters throwing themselves on train tracks. Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, says the refugee crisis is "a German problem" as it's where people arriving in the EU "would like to go."
Read more: * Chaos And Confusion As Refugee Trains Leave Budapest
Photos of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi and his brother Galip, 5 – washed up on the coast of Turkey after trying to cross the Mediterranean with other Syrian-Kurd refugees – captured worldwide attention on Wednesday.
The brothers' mother, identified as Rehan, is believed to have drowned alongside her children. Their father, named as Abdullah, survived. The Kurdi family were fleeing Kobani, a Syrian town besieged by ISIS. Abdullah has told the BBC: "I just want to see my children for the last time and stay forever with them.
Abdullah's sister, Teema Kurdi, who has lived in Vancouver, Canada, for over 20 years, said the Kurdi family were trying to come to Canada, but had their refugee visa application rejected in June.
The death of the refugees on the boats provoked an international outcry and led to an outpouring of grief on social media.
#AylanKurdi Father is now at mortuary. Turkish official tells us bodies will be repatriated to Kobane by Govt
Reporting by Hussein Kesvani in Budapest and Vienna; Rossalyn Warren in Macedonia; Joshua Hersh in Berlin, Munich, and Serbia; Francis Whittaker, Laura Silver, Richard James, Alan White, Patrick Smith, and Jamie Ross in London; Tamerra Griffin, Leticia Miranda, Ema O'Connor, and David Mack in New York; and Sal Hernandez in Los Angeles.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.
Joshua Hersh's reports from Germany and Serbia:
* Refugees Arrive At The Hungarian Border Only To Find The Gates, And Dreams, Shut Down * Refugees Arrive In Germany But Many Are Already Thinking About Their Next Destination * Syrians Join Germans In Welcoming A New Wave Of Refugees * Iraqi Family Whose Photograph Went Viral Describe Their Harrowing Journey From Baghdad To Berlin
Hussein Kesvani's reports from Budapest and Vienna:
* Thousands Of Refugees Have Left Budapest And Are Walking To Austria * This Is What It's Like For Refugees On The Road To Austria * Hungary Is Holding Hundreds Of Refugees, Including Children, Behind Wire Fences