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How is the migrant crisis dividing EU countries? How is the migrant crisis dividing EU countries?
(6 months later)
Big faultlines have opened up across the European Union - both east-west and north-south - because of the migrant crisis. Big fault lines have opened up across the European Union - both east-west and north-south - because of the migrant crisis.
Many migrants want to get asylum in Germany or Sweden, but those countries want their EU partners to show "solidarity" and share the burden.Many migrants want to get asylum in Germany or Sweden, but those countries want their EU partners to show "solidarity" and share the burden.
Many have fled the conflicts and abuses in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea. But there are also many economic migrants from the Balkans. Many have fled the conflicts and abuses in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea.
German data for January-August 2015 shows Syrians as the biggest group of asylum seekers (55,587), followed by migrants from Albania, Kosovo and Serbia. But there are also many economic migrants fleeing poverty in the Balkans and countries like Nigeria and Pakistan.
Central Europe is the new migrant hotspot. Why is Europe so divided over migrants?
Why are there tensions between EU neighbours? Greece
The Greek islands near Turkey are the main focus of EU attention, as thousands of migrants continue to come ashore there daily.
For months tensions have been escalating between Greece and some of its EU partners. They accuse Athens of deliberately waving through migrants who ought to be registered as soon as they enter the EU.
The row with Austria got so bad in February that Greece withdrew its ambassador to Vienna.
Greece insists that it cannot become Europe's holding centre for migrants - it demands fair burden-sharing.
In January-February this year more than 120,000 migrants arrived in Greece - out of more than 130,000 who crossed the Mediterranean to reach the EU, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.
The total in just two months was nearly as many as in the first half of 2015.
So far this year more than 400 migrants have drowned in the Aegean Sea, highlighting how risky the journey is.
The EU has given Greece until 12 May to fix "serious deficiencies" in its control of the EU's external border in the Aegean.
Four extra reception centres - called "hotspots" - are nearly ready on the islands.
The EU plans to give Greece €700m (£544m; $769m) in emergency aid to tackle the crisis. It is the first use inside the EU of funds earmarked for humanitarian disasters outside the EU.
Turkey
Improving co-operation with Turkey on the migrants issue is a top priority for the EU.
But progress has been very slow. Meanwhile, people-smugglers in Turkey remain very adept at shipping desperate migrants across the Aegean, for extortionate fees.
Turkey is reluctant to readmit large numbers of migrants - but it is under intense EU pressure now to do so.
Under the current rules, only migrants who have no right to international protection can be sent back to Turkey. That means economic migrants.
The reason is that only one EU country considers Turkey "safe" for returning migrants. EU data shows that 23% of asylum claims from migrants of Turkish origin were deemed well-founded in 2014.
Turkey is demanding a high price for its co-operation, arguing that it has already spent €8bn helping refugees from the Syrian war. It is struggling with the influx, already housing 2.5 million in camps.
As a candidate to join the EU, Turkey wants to see real progress in its accession negotiations. The EU has pledged that, and is offering visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in the Schengen passport-free zone.
Historic tension between Greece and Turkey makes the Aegean operation to stem the migrant flow difficult - as does Turkey's long, zig-zagging coastline.
Schengen: EU free movement deal explained
Macedonia
A migrant bottleneck has built up on the Greece-Macedonia border since Macedonia put up a razor-wire fence at the Gevgelija-Idomeni border crossing.
More than 10,000 migrants are camping in squalid conditions near the fence. Some - children among them - are sleeping rough in icy conditions, with little food or medical help.
Some of Macedonia's Balkan neighbours have sent border guards to help police the new flashpoint. Anger boiled over in early March, with migrants battering down a gate before police fired tear gas to chase them away.
Migrants continue flocking to the border because they want to get to northern Europe. Yet under the EU's controversial Dublin Regulation a migrant's asylum claim is supposed to be processed in the country where he/she first arrives.
Macedonia also hopes to join the EU, but this crisis is just adding to the obstacles in its bid.
Its migrant policy appears discriminatory: it has been letting in small numbers of Syrians and Iraqis, but not Afghans.
Desperate migrants plead to escape 'hellish' Greek camp
HungaryHungary
This year Hungary became a migrant hotspot because it is in Central Europe and in the Schengen passport-free zone - a gateway for migrants bound for Germany. The route through Greece and the Balkans became very popular because Libya and the sea passage to Italy proved extremely risky. Last year Hungary became a gateway for migrants bound for Germany.
It became the focus of world attention when Hungarian riot police fired water cannon and tear gas at a big crowd of migrants at the border with Serbia on 16 September. It became the focus of world attention when Hungarian riot police fired water cannon and tear gas at a big crowd of migrants at the border with Serbia in September.
Hungarian officials said bottles and stones had been thrown at police, who were preventing the migrants from pouring through the new border fence. There was widespread criticism of Hungary for its decision to build a razor-wire fence and prosecute migrants entering illegally. But many Hungarians supported their government's tough stance, according to reports.
There is widespread criticism of Hungary for its decision to build the razor-wire fence and prosecute migrants who enter illegally. Many fellow Europeans see the measures as a Draconian overreaction. But reports indicate that many Hungarians support the government's tough stance. After completing the Serbia section Hungary extended the fence to stop migrants entering from Croatia.
Refugees have a right under international law to get protection and claim asylum. Pushing them back at the border violates that right, aid organisations point out. The conservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said Europe's Christian heritage is under threat because most of the migrants are Muslims. He accused Germany of encouraging the influx by welcoming so many migrants.
The conservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said Europe's Christian heritage is under threat because most of the migrants are Muslims. Hungary and its northern neighbour Slovakia refuse to be part of an EU quota plan for distributing 160,000 migrants across the EU. They are currently in Greece and Italy - and so far fewer than 600 have been transferred.
He accused Germany of encouraging the influx by welcoming so many migrants and rejected the EU Commission's proposal for mandatory quotas to distribute 160,000 migrants EU-wide. The European Court of Justice is now considering a Hungarian-Slovak complaint against the EU.
Neighbouring Serbia, Croatia and Romania have all criticised Hungary's policy.
Hungary is building a fence along part of its border with Croatia not marked by the River Drava. It is also planning a fence along the border with Romania.
Now that Croatia has begun sending migrants to Hungary by bus, Hungary has responded by itself moving them on to Austria. More than 6,000 crossed into Austria within a few hours on 19 September.
Croatia
Croatia's Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said her country could give asylum to "a few thousand" migrants, but could not accommodate tens of thousands.
Since Hungary sealed off its border with Serbia there has been a surge of migrants entering Croatia. It is the EU's newest member state - but is not yet in Schengen.
Initially Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said Croatia would let migrants cross its territory. He called Hungary's policy "harmful and dangerous".
But on 17 September Croatia closed seven of its eight road border crossings with Serbia.
Croatia says tens of thousands more migrants have entered since Hungary prevented migrants crossing its border.
They have been warned of the risk of landmines if they venture off the main roads in border areas, where Croat and Serb forces clashed in the early 1990s.
But many migrants are reported to be still entering Croatia across fields, bypassing border controls.
Croatia has now said it is regulating the flow of migrants at its border but will continue to give them passage north without making them register as refugees.
It has even sent a trainload of migrants across the border to Hungary, prompting Hungary to accuse it of violating international law.
Serbia
Serbs have generally shown tolerance and hospitality towards migrants, the BBC's Guy Delauney reports.
Serbia has been preparing extra facilities on the assumption that migrants were likely to spend longer on its territory, unable to reach Hungary. But many are now crossing into Croatia instead.
The country has struggled to cope since migrants flocked in, heading north from Greece. But the authorities are trying to uphold EU standards on human rights, as Serbia is a candidate for EU membership.
Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic deplored Hungary's behaviour, calling it "brutal" and "non-European".
Slovenia
Slovenia - in the Schengen area and closer to richer northern Europe - is experiencing a new migrant influx. It is a logical transit country for migrants bypassing Hungary.
Initially Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said his small Alpine country would stick to the Schengen free movement rules. It said it would process asylum requests and not create a "corridor" for refugees to simply travel on to Austria.
On 17 September, Slovenia suspended rail connections with Croatia.
This led to tensions at the Harmica border crossing a day later, when Slovenian riot police used pepper spray on people trying to cross on foot.
Slovenia is now putting migrants on board buses bound for reception centres close to the Austrian border.
EU migration: Crisis in graphics
Romania
Like Croatia, Romania has warned Hungary against building new fences on its borders.
Romania protested to Hungary over its plan, calling Hungary's language "unacceptable in terms of diplomacy". Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu spoke of "an attempt by the Hungarian side to draw us into an artificial conflict".
So far Romania has not been a major migrant transit country, but that could change.
Romania, like most of its East European neighbours, objects to mandatory EU quotas. It is willing to take in a maximum 1,785 migrants in a voluntary quota scheme.
Migration is a very sensitive issue for Romania. For years the country has been trying to join Schengen, but some other EU countries - notably the Netherlands - have blocked that.
In recent years, many poor Roma (Gypsy) have moved from Romania to richer EU countries as economic migrants. But that has caused tensions, especially in France, where squalid, makeshift Roma camps have been torn down by police.
AustriaAustria
Migrants have poured into Austria from Hungary, en route to southern Germany. The authorities have not pushed them back. Last year migrants poured into Austria from Hungary, en route to southern Germany. The authorities did not push them back.
Austria re-imposed border checks - as did Germany on its border with Austria - as a temporary, emergency measure that is allowed under Schengen rules. Slovakia - on Austria's eastern border - did so too. But Austria re-imposed border checks - as did Germany on its border with Austria - as a temporary, emergency measure, allowed under Schengen rules. Slovakia - on Austria's eastern border - did so too.
Austria has deployed about 2,200 soldiers to help with logistics, as the migrant influx continues, though they are not acting as border guards. The crisis caused major disruption to road and rail travel between Austria and its neighbours. Crowds of migrants gathered at Vienna's main stations, waiting for trains to take them north.
The crisis has caused major disruption to road and rail travel between Austria and its neighbours. Crowds of migrants have gathered at Vienna's main stations, waiting for trains to take them north. In the latest twist, Austria set new daily limits: a maximum of 80 asylum applications and 3,200 migrants in transit to other countries.
The Vienna-Budapest rail service was suspended on 10 September but reopened eight days later. The European Commission has protested to Austria, saying those limits violate EU law.
But rail travel from Salzburg to Germany remains suspended.
In August, the UN and Amnesty International condemned conditions at Austria's overcrowded Traiskirchen reception centre, south of Vienna, where many migrants were sleeping in the open. Austria has made improvements there.
But the world was shocked when 71 dead migrants were found inside an abandoned lorry near Austria's border with Hungary.
GermanyGermany
Around 1.1 million asylum seekers arrived in Germany in 2015 - a record number. That put great strain on local authorities, who had to create emergency campsites.
Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany will look after genuine refugees, fulfilling its international humanitarian duty.Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany will look after genuine refugees, fulfilling its international humanitarian duty.
There has been an outpouring of sympathy and help for the new arrivals from many ordinary Germans. That welcome does not extend to the many economic migrants. Those from Balkan countries like Kosovo, Albania and Serbia can now being sent back - Germany recently classified those countries as "safe".
But Germany says its welcome does not extend to economic migrants from outside the EU. Mrs Merkel has been much criticised for her "open door" policy on refugees. The critics include fellow conservatives, notably the Bavarian CSU party.
Germany wants to ensure an orderly entry of migrants that includes registering every new arrival. The influx has put huge pressure on some cities, such as Munich, as many migrant hostels are now full. Last year there was an outpouring of sympathy and help for the new arrivals from many ordinary Germans.
Germany expects at least 800,000 asylum seekers this year - about four times the number it handled last year. It has urged its EU partners to back mandatory quotas - something that France, Italy and Greece also want. But there were also many street protests by the right-wing Pegida movement, which claims to be defending Germany from "Islamisation".
Mrs Merkel's Bavarian allies, the CSU, called Berlin's approach to migration "an unparalleled political error". Other German regional leaders have also criticised the policy. There have been hundreds of attacks on migrant hostels - usually empty buildings allocated for new arrivals. In many cases they were gutted by fire.
Germany said it would take in Syrian refugees wherever in the EU they had first arrived. Sweden had earlier announced a similar policy. Anxiety was fuelled by the Cologne attacks, when hundreds of women were assaulted at New Year, many of them sexually molested. Victims and witnesses mostly blamed gangs of migrant men from North Africa.
It means that the EU's Dublin Regulation is de facto suspended. That rule says a migrant's asylum claim should be processed in the European country where he/she first arrives. Germany wanted its EU partners to accept mandatory quotas, to spread the migrants EU-wide. France, Italy and Greece backed Germany on that - but EU leaders as a whole decided on a voluntary scheme.
France
French demolition squads have been tearing down migrant shacks at the "Jungle" - a squalid campsite in Calais, where about 4,000 migrants are hoping to get across the Channel to the UK.
Basic, clean shelters have been erected instead - but migrants yearning to reach the UK do not want to stay there, and are avoiding registration.
The UK has immigration checkpoints at Calais and Dunkirk, under an agreement with France.
There have been warnings that France could end that arrangement if British voters reject EU membership in the UK's June in-out referendum.
Most of the Calais migrants are from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea or Sudan.
France re-imposed police checks on its border with Belgium after the November Paris attacks, in which jihadists murdered 130 people.
News that two of the killers had passed through Greece fuelled alarm about freedom of movement under Schengen.
Marine Le Pen's National Front (FN) is a major force in French politics - it is anti-EU and deplores mass immigration.
Italy
Last summer Greece became the main Mediterranean gateway for migrants - previously it had been Italy.
Several factors have made it riskier for migrants to head for Italy by boat: hundreds have drowned in repeated disasters at sea; war-torn Libya is extremely dangerous; the voyage is longer - even to Lampedusa, a tiny island near Tunisia.
More EU resources have been put into Frontex, the border agency now monitoring migrant routes from Libya. But EU officials say a bigger effort is needed, as the sea area is vast.
Italy is angry that some EU partners are so unwilling to share the migrant burden. Its reception centres - especially in Lampedusa and Sicily - are overcrowded, like those in Greece.
Denmark and Sweden
The Danish stance on immigration is among the toughest in Europe. Controversially, Denmark has given police the power to seize valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner (€1,340; £1,000) from refugees to cover housing and food costs.
In January Sweden introduced identity checks for travellers from Denmark in an attempt to curb migrant numbers.
The clampdown has slowed transit across the Oresund bridge - a rail and bus link - as now all travellers have to present their ID at checkpoints. And rail commuters have to change trains at Copenhagen Airport.
More than 160,000 asylum seekers arrived in Sweden in 2015, more per capita than any other country in Europe.
Sweden introduces border controls
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.