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 Declaring that the European Union faces a "defining moment", the
head of the U.N. refugee agency Antonio Guterres said a divided bloc
would benefit only smugglers and people traffickers.
His appeal for EU states to do more in helping migrants - many of
them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war - contrasted with the
tough line from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who warned
about the consequences of "a mass inflow of people", possibly
numbering tens of millions.
Hundreds of thousands of people trying to escape conflict and
poverty are making the dangerous and arduous journey by sea and
land, heading towards wealthy northern European countries such as
Germany in the hope of finding safety and a new life.
But many migrants are stuck en route, including in Hungary where
hundreds woke up on Friday after a night on a packed train stranded
at a station west of Budapest, refusing to go to a nearby camp to
process asylum seekers..
Guterres said the EU needed to help more migrants enter legally and
provide about 200,000 relocation places, according to a preliminary
estimate, as well as support countries under pressure such as
Greece, Italy and Hungary.
"It now has no other choice but to mobilize full force around this
crisis. The only way to solve this problem is for the Union and all
member states to implement a common strategy, based on
responsibility, solidarity and trust," he said in a statement.
More than 300,000 people have risked their lives this year trying to
cross the Mediterranean, and more than 2,600 people have died doing
so.
Guterres said the image of a drowned Syrian toddler washed up on a
Turkish beach which has swept across social media this week had
"stirred the hearts of the world public", but said the EU had so far
failed to find a collective common response.
Aylan Kurdi, aged 3, was buried in the Syrian town of Kobani on
Friday alongside his 5-year-old brother and their mother, both of
whom had also drowned at the same time.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, across whose country many of the
refugees trek as they head north and west via the Greek islands, has
also appealed to developed countries, notably in Europe, "to be more
sensitive in the face of human dramas".
Turkish authorities stopped 57 people trying to cross to the Greek
island of Kos on Thursday night, as migrants remained undeterred by
the boy's drowning on the same route.
"MINORITY IN OUR OWN CONTINENT"
Erdogan's appeal drew little sympathy from Hungary's Orban, who
defended his government's hardline stand on the crisis.
"The reality is that Europe is threatened by a mass inflow of
people. Many tens of millions of people could come to Europe," he
said. "Now we talk about hundreds of thousands but next year we will
talk about millions and there is no end to this."
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"All of a sudden we will see that we are in minority in our own
continent," Orban told public radio.
Hungary has hit out at Germany, the most popular destination among
the migrants, for saying it would accept asylum requests from Syria
regardless of where they entered the EU.
With the pressure growing, British Prime Minister David Cameron said
his country would take "thousands more" refugees from Syria. Until
now, Britain has taken in only small numbers of Syrian refugees,
drawing criticism at home and aboard.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed her country will not
tolerate xenophobia, but a poll for ARD television showed her
popularity has dropped abruptly over her handling of the migrant
crisis.
Merkel, who was criticized for being slow to condemn violent
protests against refugees in an east German town last month, saw her
approval ratings slip by 4 points from the previous month to 63
percent in the Infra test Dilma survey.
That said, most European leaders struggling to revive their
economies could only dream of a 63 percent approval rating.
A record 104,460 asylum seekers entered Germany in August and the
country expects about 800,000 people in total to file for asylum
this year, four times last year's level.
Migrants aboard the train near Budapest are worried that registering
as asylum seekers in Hungary will prevent them heading to Germany.
They wrote on the side of the train: "No camp. No Hungary. Freedom
train".
They wrestled with police on Thursday, some throwing themselves on
the tracks insisting they be allowed to remain on the train bound
for a border town near Austria.
The train had left Budapest on Thursday morning after a two-day
standoff at the city's main railway station as police barred entry
to some 2,000 migrants. Hungary says they must be registered, as per
EU rules, but many refuse.
(Additional reporting by Axel Bugge, Caroline Copley, Marton Dunai,
Ece Toksabay and Rodi Said; writing by David Stamp; Editing by
Gareth Jones)
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