A critical European Union meeting in Belgium has produced warnings more must be done to stop people entering Europe from Turkey amid the continent's growing humanitarian crisis.
The EU had called officials from Germany, Denmark and Sweden to Brussels following decisions by Denmark and Sweden to impose checks on their borders.
There is wide agreement that the only solution will be a European one, involving all 28 member states.
But many at the meeting expressed hopes of easing border restrictions as soon as possible.
Rachael Hocking reports.
To many people fleeing war-torn parts of the Middle East, Germany is still seen as a safe haven.
Last year, Germany's open stance on refugees led to more than one million arriving in the country.
But that flow has not slowed -- Germany claims it still has an average influx of 3,200 refugees per day.
And with that has come renewed pressure on the ruling Christian Democrat party to act, both from within and from nationalist groups.
Now, a new line is coming from German chancellor Angela Merkel, who says the situation needs to be tackled.
(Translated)"It is very important to me that we achieve both a noticeable reduction in the flow of refugees by tackling the causes of migration, but also through national measures -- for example, by improving the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers and, at the same time, preserving the free movement of people within the European Union."
Following a meeting in Brussels with Sweden, Denmark and the EU over border controls, Germany has blamed a lack of controls at Europe's borders for the current migrant crisis.
State Secretary of the Interior Ole Schroeder says European identification systems are not working the way they are supposed to.
"Our problem at the moment in Europe is that we do not have a functioning border control system, especially at the Greece-Turkey border. We must apply the Common European Asylum System properly. Eurodac is not applied properly. The relocation mechanism is not functioning."
The European Commission has attempted to relocate migrants from frontline countries Italy and Greece to other countries in the EU.
Of the 160,000 that EU governments have agreed to relocate, only 272 people have been moved so far.
Swedish migration minister Morgan Johansson has echoed Germany's call, asking for a fair sharing of responsibilities across the EU.
"We are a country that can do a lot and has done a lot, but we cannot do everything. We have to share all the responsibility among all member states in the European Union, and, therefore, we must also have relocation systems put in place."
Meanwhile, the durability of the EU's passport-free Schengen area has also come under discussion.
It follows a decision by Denmark to impose temporary identity checks at its border with Germany, following a similar move by Sweden.
During the meeting, the countries agreed they wanted to keep EU borders open.
But they said effective controls on Europe's external borders, as well as other agreed measures, are necessary.
Danish immigration minister Inger Stojberg says her country will consider imposing fines on private transport companies carrying people who cannot legally enter the EU.
"We are going to (be) monitoring the situation hour by hour, and, if necessary, we will put the carrier liability into force. And it can happen with very short notice."
The EU is counting on Turkey to help reduce the number of migrants entering the bloc.
That follows a deal between the European Union and Turkey late last year for Turkey to absorb more people fleeing Syria's civil war.
More than one million migrants fleeing conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and beyond sought shelter in Europe in 2015.
The latest tragedy unfolded on Tuesday, when Turkish authorities found the bodies of 34 migrants after they had apparently tried to cross to the Greek island of Lesbos.
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