This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/world/europe/germany-emergency-measures-european-migrant-crisis.html

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Germany Announces Emergency Border Controls Amid Migrant Crisis Germany Announces Emergency Border Controls Amid Migrant Crisis
(about 4 hours later)
VIENNA — Germany announced on Sunday that it was invoking emergency powers to start protecting its borders, seemingly reaching a point of overload after greeting with open arms tens of thousands of migrants pouring into Europe, and urging other European nations to do the same. BERLIN — With record numbers of migrants pouring across the Hungarian border and rushing west, Germany, the country that had been the most welcoming in Europe, suddenly ordered temporary border restrictions on Sunday that cut off rail travel from Austria and instituted spot checks on cars.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière announced the decision to impose temporary controls on Germany’s southern border with Austria, after thousands of migrants have crossed over in recent weeks. It took the action just one day before European ministers were scheduled to meet in Brussels to discuss a plan to disperse tens of thousands of refugees across Europe, with many governments, particularly in Eastern Europe, bristling at being forced to accept more migrants than they wish to take.
The announcement followed a meeting of top officials to discuss the migrant crisis, after the flood of people from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other troubled areas into Munich and other Eastern cities continued unabated for the second weekend in a row. The crisis is the latest, and perhaps thorniest, test of Europe’s willingness to work together to solve big problems amid rising populist, nationalist and Euro-skeptic movements across the continent.
The emergency measures, which are said to be temporary, would presumably allow Germany to turn away migrants from the Balkans and other areas whose citizens are not fleeing war or persecution. The move by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel was seen as a strong sign — if not an outright message — to other European Union members that Germany was growing weary of shouldering so much of the burden for Europe’s largest humanitarian crisis in decades without more help and cooperation from other nations.
Mr. de Maizière said that it is “desperately necessary” for Germany to “limit the flow to Germany and to reinstate an orderly entry process,” after two weeks that left the country straining to accommodate and house the new arrivals. For others, though, the concern was that if even the richest and most powerful nation in the 28-member union was showing signs of hitting its limit, how would Europe be able to find a path through this seemingly ceaseless refugee emergency?
He cited security concerns as the reason for the measure; national security allows European Union nations in the so-called Schengen zone the right to limit their open borders. When word of the new restrictions made the rounds at the main station in Salzburg, Austria, the last major stop on the rail journey to Germany, hundreds of migrants were taken off the blocked trains and to a garage nearby, the German Press Agency said.
He called for the establishment of a “waiting zone” at Europe’s borders in Greece, Italy and Hungary, where those seeking asylum would be registered and wait to see which country would take them in. A simple sign was posted on the station’s information boards: “No railway service by order of German authorities due to the German migrant crisis.”
Mr. de Maizière said he had consulted with security officials in Germany’s 16 states before making the decision, and had informed his Austrian counterpart as well. Interior Minister Thomas de Mazière said that it was “desperately necessary” for Germany to limit the number of people coming into the country and “reinstate an orderly entry process” after two weeks that left the country straining to accommodate the new arrivals.
Besides Germany’s difficulty coping with the growing numbers, the measure appeared to be a way for it to press its European partners to accept their share of the migrants, the day before European Union interior ministers were to meet to consider a package of measures, including national quotas. Although one of the proudest European achievements of recent decades was passport-free travel between most member nations, the rules allow the reinstatement of border restrictions in cases of crisis and national security, he said.
“The measure is also a signal to Europe,” Mr. de Maizière said, warning that “introducing temporary border controls will not solve the whole problem.” “This measure is also a signal to Europe” that more needs to be done, and quickly, Mr. de Mazière said. “Introducing temporary border controls will not solve the whole problem,” he said.
The European Commission said that Germany was in its rights to impose border controls, and in a statement said, “The German decision of today underlines the urgency to agree on the measures proposed by the European Commission in order to manage the refugee crisis.” Also on Sunday, Ms. Merkel spoke with Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, who proposed a plan last week to relocate 160,000 migrants who are bottling up in the main front-line nations of Greece, Italy and Hungary.
Earlier in the day, Mr. de Maizière had signaled that Germany was reaching capacity, saying that all of the refugees moving into Europe from the Middle East and other troubled areas cannot come to Germany. Because of its relative prosperity and welcoming stance, Germany is the most desired destination of the migrants, many of whom see their best prospects for a safe and secure new life under the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The proposal, to be discussed Monday in Brussels by the bloc’s home affairs ministers, includes 40,000 migrants covered under an earlier plan that collapsed when several member nations refused to accept mandatory quotas of refugees, as well as 120,000 more.
“We can’t allow refugees to freely choose where they want to stay — that’s not the case anywhere in the world,” he said in an interview with Tagesspiegel newspaper. Leaders of several countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic, have said they still object to any mandatory quotas, but may be willing to accept more new arrivals as long as it is voluntary.
Germany had been saying it expected 800,000 migrants by year’s end, but had indicated up to now that it could handle all the newcomers, and even welcomed their addition to its aging work force. Hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees have been surging into Europe for nearly two years from war-torn areas of the Middle East, as well as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Eritrea and elsewhere in Africa. Many of them aim to reach Germany, but others try to get to Sweden, Britain, the Netherlands and other nations.
But by Sunday afternoon, 4,000 migrants had entered Munich since midnight, following the highest number yet — 12,202 people — who arrived on Saturday. Since the beginning of the month , 61,000 people have poured into Munich, local police officials said, including about 20,000 last weekend. Previously, the route of choice was across the Mediterranean Sea from Libya. But with that path growing increasingly dangerous, an overland route from Greece to Macedonia to Serbia to southern Hungary started attracting more people this summer.
And there were many more on the way, according to Austrian officials, who said they were coping with their biggest influx to date in the crisis, with at least 500 people arriving every hour by train on Sunday at the Hungarian border town of Hegyeshalom and crossing into Austria. Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, responded by beginning the construction of a razor-wire fence along the country’s entire, 108-mile border with Serbia, a project that is still underway.
By 3 p.m. at least 7,000 people had streamed over the border into Austria, and were being transported by special trains and buses, mostly to Vienna, but also to other destinations in the country to prevent a bottleneck, said Lt. Col. Helmut Marban, spokesman for the police in Austria’s easternmost state of Burgenland. Mr. Orban also promises a fresh crackdown against those crossing the border when new laws take effect in Hungary on Tuesday, imposing harsh prison penalties for entering the country illegally and allowing the building of “transit centers” right at the border where migrants could be held while their cases were being considered.
”The influx is simply not stopping right now,” he said by telephone. “We really have our hands full.” In announcing Germany’s new border restrictions, Mr. de Mazière also called for the creation of what he called “waiting zones” along the union’s external borders where migrants could be registered and wait until they were granted refugee status and assigned to a country.
It is “the busiest day yet,” he added. Hungary’s government, which has taken a particularly hard line during the crisis, reacted warmly to Germany’s announcement on Sunday.
The migrant stream is believed to have picked up force in recent days, as many people try to get ahead of new measures in Hungary taking effect on Tuesday to tighten security at the borders. A popular land route takes the migrants into Turkey, through the Balkans and Serbia and to Hungary, as a gateway to Austria and what had been friendlier reception in Europe’s north and west. “Hungary understands Germany’s decision, and Hungary is standing by Germany,” Peter Szijjarto, the country’s foreign minister, said at a news conference.
The Hungarian authorities said that 4,330 migrants were detained Saturday for crossing the border illegally, an increase of 700 over the previous one-day mark. He said Hungary welcomed Berlin’s decision, which he described as defending German and European values, adding that Hungary made a new proposal of its own on Sunday: calling for a Continent-wide effort to defend the borders of Greece, the first stop on the migrant path.
The authorities said that Hungary’s controversial double fence along its border with Serbia was completed, and was being guarded this weekend by troops with weapons. New anti-migrant laws that take effect on Tuesday make it harder to cross the border, and also make it a criminal offense to damage the fence. The migrants who eventually make their way to Hungary usually begin their journey into Europe with a short, but often perilous, sea crossing from Turkey to one of the nearer Greek islands.
Already there were signs in other parts of Europe that migrants were trying out new land routes to bypass Hungary, hinting at new crisis points in coming days. If European leaders could close off that flow, Hungarian officials said Sunday, the numbers moving through the Balkans into Central Europe would dwindle to a trickle. Advocates for refugees say that those determined to reach Europe will only find other paths.
Germany’s move came amid more tragedy, as the Greek Coast Guard recovered the bodies of 34 migrants, including 15 children, in the Aegean Sea on Sunday after their wooden boat flipped over in strong winds as it attempted the short but often perilous crossing from neighboring Turkey. Just how dangerous that sea crossing can be was evident again Sunday when the Greek Coast Guard recovered the bodies of 34 migrants, including 15 children, after their boat capsized in the Aegean Sea. An additional 68 were rescued, and 30 others managed to swim to the nearby island of Farmakonisi.
An additional 68 migrants were rescued by the coast guard, and 30 more swam to the shoreline of Farmakonisi, a small island in the eastern Aegean, according to an official at the Greek Shipping Ministry. The land portion of the journey offers dangers, too. The Austrian authorities said they saved 42 people on Sunday from a refrigerated truck near the German border, and arrested two smugglers. Just last month, 71 people were found dead in the back of such a truck near the Austrian-Hungarian border.
“It was really windy in the morning, about 7 Beaufort, so their boat overturned a small distance from the shore,” the official said. Germany has said it expects 800,000 migrants by year’s end, but has indicated up to now that it can handle the newcomers, and even welcomed their addition to its aging work force.
Rescuers, who were alerted shortly before dawn by a resident of Farmakonisi, found most of the bodies floating near the wreck. Divers recovered another seven from the cabin of the boat. Of the 15 children found dead, four were infants, the official said. The nationalities of the migrants were not immediately known. But the numbers arriving have continued to grow, and Germany’s humanitarian network is wobbling under the strain.
A Greek Navy helicopter and several coast guard vessels continued to scour the area for possible survivors on Sunday afternoon. Rescuers were also seeking four children who have been missing since Saturday after their boat capsized off the island of Samos, north of Farmakonisi. On Saturday, around 12,000 migrants arrived in Munich, with 4,000 more by Sunday afternoon. More beds are needed, Munich officials said.
Also on Sunday, the Austrian police said they had rescued 42 people, including five women and eight children, from a refrigerated truck on a highway near the border with Germany. Two smuggling suspects were arrested. And more migrants are on the way. Before Germany closed off rail traffic from Austria, Austrian officials said 500 migrants were arriving every hour at the main border crossing between Hungary and Austria, with 7,000 crossing that day before 3 p.m.
Last month, 71 people were found presumably smothered to death in the back of a truck on the highway between Hungary and Austria, the victims of another smuggling operation. On the Serbian border, the Hungarian authorities said that 4,330 migrants were detained Saturday for crossing illegally, an increase of 700 over the previous one-day record. And many thousands more are waiting to cross behind them, or making their slow way to the border.
As the crisis continued to deepen, the 28-member European Union bloc seemed as far away as ever from coming up with a common solution. Efforts to distribute just 160,000 of the migrants through the member states to ease the pressure on countries like Italy and Germany, which have borne the brunt of the population surge, face fierce resistance as interior ministers are to meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss this and other proposals. “The influx is simply not stopping right now,” said Lt. Col. Helmut Marban, a police spokesman in Austria’s easternmost state. “We really have our plates full.”
Guntram B. Wolff, director of Breugel, a Brussels research group, said Germany’s decision to impose controls seemed to be “an interim thing,” rather than a sign that the European Union, panicked by a disorderly influx of migrants, was retreating from the principle of open borders.
“It is just a measure to slow down the flow and to handle things in a more orderly manner,” he said.
But if some Europe-wide agreement is not reached to deal with the crisis, Mr. Wolff said, the so-called Schengen system that allows passport-free travel across 26 countries is in danger of collapsing.
“There has to be a European solution, and if there is not one, then Schengen will come under pressure,” he said. “For the moment, Schengen is still there.”
Abdelkahar Sherzad, a 28-year-old from Afghanistan, heard about Germany’s new restrictions only after waiting four days for a train out of Budapest’s Keleti station.
“I would really like to go to Germany,” Mr. Sherzad said. “But if they don’t let me go, I will consider other options, like staying in Austria or trying to go to another country. I won’t stop.”