EU divisions deepen ahead of summit on migrants

Hungary has introduced new powers to deal with migrants and refugees, in a move set to deepen divisions between the country and its neighbours.

EU divisions deepen ahead of summit on migrantsEU divisions deepen ahead of summit on migrants

EU divisions deepen ahead of summit on migrants

It comes as European Leaders prepare for an emergency summit in Brussels to try to find agreement on a response to the crisis.

 

Hungary has continued its hardline stance on migrants and refugees, with the parliament passing a law giving the army greater powers to protect the country's borders.

 

The new law allows the army to use non-lethal force, including rubber bullets, tear gas, nets or pyrotechnical devices such as flares.

 

Hungary's Prime Minister Victor Orban says Europe is being "overrun" by migrants and refugees.

 

"The migrants are not just banging on our door, they're breaking it down. Not a few hundred, not a few thousand, but several hundreds of thousands - actually, millions of migrants are laying siege to Hungary's and Europe's borders. There is no end in sight. Their reserves are vast and millions are preparing to travel."

 

Marta Pardavi, from Budapest rights group the Helsinki Committee, says Hungary's new legislation is excessive.

 

"Hungary is not at war with refugees. There is not armed conflict neither at the Hungarian border nor in country, but nevertheless the army will have the powers to prevent the escalation, of for example riots at the border by using firearms, and will also be allowed to cause bodily injuries that are not fatal."

 

The Foreign Minister of Serbia, which has seen 150,000 people pass through to Hungary in recent months, has hit out at Hungary for building a fence on the Serbian border.

 

Ivica Dacic says his country is being put behind a new "Iron Curtain".

 

"Serbia cannot allow for the situation where it becomes a concentration camp, we cannot be fenced, we cannot be surrounded by the fences, we want to unblock the border crossings, the highways, but nobody is reacting. We cannot agree to such a destiny,"

 

Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia remain fiercely opposed to the E-U proposal for binding quotas, ahead of an extraordinary summit on the crisis.

 

Germany and France are among those who back plans to share the burden of relocating 120,000 migrants from Greece, Italy and Hungary.



Austria's Interior Minister, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, says her country will push very hard for a fairer distribution of migrants and refugees.

 

"Let me recall what happened last weekend where around 2,500 refugees were registered in Slovenia and only seven of them applied for asylum. I really can't understand how Slovenia and Croatia would not be good enough to ask for asylum. The vice chancellor called it 'asylum a la carte.' That is unacceptable and therefore, we demand the quota."

 

United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon has made a fresh call for compassion for migrants and refugees ahead of the summit.

 

Mr Ban says he is worried about the closing of some borders in Europe, the lack of proper facilities to receive migrants and the increased detention of asylum seekers and migrants.

 






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EU divisions deepen ahead of summit on migrants | SBS News