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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Refugee crisis: Britain set for crunch EU talks as Germany brings in border controls | Refugee crisis: Britain set for crunch EU talks as Germany brings in border controls |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Britain will resist demands for a European Union-wide refugee quota as interior ministers meet on Monday for a showdown in Brussels to discuss the crisis. | Britain will resist demands for a European Union-wide refugee quota as interior ministers meet on Monday for a showdown in Brussels to discuss the crisis. |
| The home secretary, Theresa May, is joining her counterparts at the emergency meeting after Germany introduced border controls on Sunday, and dramatically halted all train traffic with Austria. | The home secretary, Theresa May, is joining her counterparts at the emergency meeting after Germany introduced border controls on Sunday, and dramatically halted all train traffic with Austria. |
| Germany’s regions said they could no longer cope with the overwhelming number of refugees entering the country. | Germany’s regions said they could no longer cope with the overwhelming number of refugees entering the country. |
| May has blamed scenes of drownings at sea on a “broken European migration system”, saying the tragedies such as the dozens of refugees found dead in the back of an abandoned lorry “have been exacerbated by the European system of no borders, the Schengen area, in which the UK has never taken part.” | May has blamed scenes of drownings at sea on a “broken European migration system”, saying the tragedies such as the dozens of refugees found dead in the back of an abandoned lorry “have been exacerbated by the European system of no borders, the Schengen area, in which the UK has never taken part.” |
| The UK, Ireland and Denmark have treaty opt-outs from the EU’s common asylum policy so are not part of European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s mandatory refugee quota-sharing plan. | |
| Austria’s chancellor, Werner Faymann, has suggested that if no consensus was reached on Monday in Brussels, Germany and its allies could try to force through a vote on quotas with a qualified majority. | Austria’s chancellor, Werner Faymann, has suggested that if no consensus was reached on Monday in Brussels, Germany and its allies could try to force through a vote on quotas with a qualified majority. |
| He said Austria and Germany – both net contributors to the EU budget – would consider sanctions against countries stubbornly refusing to share the refugee burden. This might include axing some EU structural funds from which “east European states profit most of all”. | He said Austria and Germany – both net contributors to the EU budget – would consider sanctions against countries stubbornly refusing to share the refugee burden. This might include axing some EU structural funds from which “east European states profit most of all”. |
| The German interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, announced border control measures after German officials said record numbers of refugees, most of them from Syria, had stretched the system to breaking point. “This step has become necessary,” he told a press conference in Berlin, adding it would cause disruption. | The German interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, announced border control measures after German officials said record numbers of refugees, most of them from Syria, had stretched the system to breaking point. “This step has become necessary,” he told a press conference in Berlin, adding it would cause disruption. |
| Asylum seekers must understand “they cannot choose the states where they are seeking protection”, he told reporters. | |
| Related: Refugee crisis: Germany reinstates controls at Austrian border | Related: Refugee crisis: Germany reinstates controls at Austrian border |
| All trains between Austria and Bavaria, the principal conduit through which 450,000 refugees have arrived in Germany this year, ceased at 5pm Berlin time. Only EU citizens and others with valid documents would be allowed to pass through Germany’s borders, De Maizière said. | |
| The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urged the EU to move to “the rapid implementation of a relocation programme” to spread refugees among all EU countries – a move resisted by many member states. | The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urged the EU to move to “the rapid implementation of a relocation programme” to spread refugees among all EU countries – a move resisted by many member states. |
| The British prime minister, David Cameron, has made clear that Britain will not participate in European commission plans to redistribute 160,000 migrants around the continent from Italy, Greece and Hungary. | |
| He has said the UK would take in 20,000 Syrians but only from camps in the region, arguing that focusing on migrants who have already reached Europe would merely encourage more to come. | He has said the UK would take in 20,000 Syrians but only from camps in the region, arguing that focusing on migrants who have already reached Europe would merely encourage more to come. |
| Related: ‘Passports, please’: first Syrians halted after Germany restarts border control | Related: ‘Passports, please’: first Syrians halted after Germany restarts border control |
| The temporary reintroduction of border controls was seen as a serious blow to the survival of the Schengen agreement under which 26 European countries, mostly in the EU, have no border controls and operate a joint asylum policy. | The temporary reintroduction of border controls was seen as a serious blow to the survival of the Schengen agreement under which 26 European countries, mostly in the EU, have no border controls and operate a joint asylum policy. |
| Ukip’s leader, Nigel Farage, said: “By shutting the border with Austria, it is clear that the German government have realised the scale of their error. Schengen surely can’t survive now.” | Ukip’s leader, Nigel Farage, said: “By shutting the border with Austria, it is clear that the German government have realised the scale of their error. Schengen surely can’t survive now.” |
| David Miliband – who is visiting the Greek island of Lesbos – criticised the UK response. The former foreign secretary, who now heads up the aid agency International Rescue Committee (IRC), described Cameron’s commitment to take in an average of 4,000 Syrian refugees a year as the equivalent of the number arriving on the beaches of Lesbos every day. | David Miliband – who is visiting the Greek island of Lesbos – criticised the UK response. The former foreign secretary, who now heads up the aid agency International Rescue Committee (IRC), described Cameron’s commitment to take in an average of 4,000 Syrian refugees a year as the equivalent of the number arriving on the beaches of Lesbos every day. |
| “The EU has an opportunity to move beyond its fragmented and lacklustre response to date and finally acknowledge the severity of this humanitarian crisis,” he said. | “The EU has an opportunity to move beyond its fragmented and lacklustre response to date and finally acknowledge the severity of this humanitarian crisis,” he said. |
| “Each country needs to shoulder the burden and agree to both relocate refugees who have reached the continent and resettle the most vulnerable from the Middle East.” | “Each country needs to shoulder the burden and agree to both relocate refugees who have reached the continent and resettle the most vulnerable from the Middle East.” |
| Greek authorities said on Sunday that 28 people drowned, half of them children, when their wooden smuggling boat capsized in the Aegean sea. The incident happened before dawn off the Greek island of Farmakonisi. The Greek coastguard pulled 68 people out of the water. Another 30 managed to swim to land. | Greek authorities said on Sunday that 28 people drowned, half of them children, when their wooden smuggling boat capsized in the Aegean sea. The incident happened before dawn off the Greek island of Farmakonisi. The Greek coastguard pulled 68 people out of the water. Another 30 managed to swim to land. |
| Press Association contributed to this report | Press Association contributed to this report |