Migration & refugees: EuropeBalkans at center of Europe’s worst refugee crisis since WWII
Europe is searching for a solution to its worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. Hungary is building a fence along its 110-mile border with Serbia, and is considering using its military to protect its southern border, as thousands of migrants, many of them fleeing Syria, are desperately trying to enter the European Union zone. Greece saw fifty thousand refugees arrived on Greek shores during the month in July alone, . and the Greek authorities have taken to ferrying many of them – mostly Syrian refugees — from Greece’s overwhelmed islands to Athens, from where they head north by buses provided by the government. The Serbia authorities said that about 10,000 refugees were passing through Serbia at any time. As Hungary border fence building advances, more and more of these refugees remain in Serbia, unable to cross into Hungary or go back into Greece.
Hungary is considering using its military to protect its southern border, as thousands of migrants, many of them fleeing Syria, are desperately trying to enter the European Union.
Hungarian police said that on Tuesday, a record 2,533 migrants, most of them from Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, were caught along the border as they were attempting to enter the country from neighboring Serbia. Many more were likely to have entered Hungary through sections of the border not yet protected by a fence and other barriers Hungary has been building to stem the flow of refugees into the country.
The Guardian reports that the deteriorating situation along the Serbia-Hungary border, and the even worse situation in the southern parts of Greece and Italy, where tens of thousands of migrants are coming ashore after perilous journey across the Mediterranean, has forced Europe to search for a solution to its worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.
Hungary is now a member of Europe’s Schengen passport-free travel zone, and thus an attractive destination to refugees seeking entry into the EU. Hungary is building a protective system along its 110-mile border with Serbia in an effort to keep migrants out.
Zoltan Kovacs, the Hungary government spokesman, told journalists that the Hungarian parliament would next week debate whether to deploy the armed forces to the country’s southern border. “Hungary’s government and national security cabinet … has discussed the question of how the army could be used to help protect Hungary’s border and the EU’s border,” he said.
The number of migrants coming into the EU through the Balkans has been rising steadily as a result of a new policy by the Greek government. In the last three weeks, about 3,000 refugees have entered Macedonia daily from Greece. The Guardian notes that tens of thousands of refugees have landed on Greek shores in the last six months, and the Greek authorities have taken to ferrying many of them – mostly Syrian refugees — from Greece’s overwhelmed islands to Athens, from where they head north by buses provided by the government.
Fifty thousand refugees arrived on Greek shores during the month in July alone.
The Serbia authorities said that about 10,000 refugees were passing through Serbia at any time. As Hungary border fence building advances, more and more of these refugees remain in Serbia, unable to cross into Hungary or go back into Greece.
“The situation will get worse, when winter arrives. We’re getting ready to look after double that number,” the Serbian prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
