Refugee crisis: economic migrants told not to come to Europe
European Council President Donald Tusk has warned illegal economic migrants not to come to Europe as the continent struggles to cope with the ongoing refugee crisis.
"I want to appeal to all potential illegal economic migrants wherever you are from: do not come to Europe," he said. "Do not believe the smugglers. Do not risk your lives and your money. It is all for nothing. Greece, or any other European country, will no longer be a transit country."
Tusk's comments came after talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens to discuss how to control the influx of people arriving in Europe.
More than a million refugees and migrants entered the continent last year, 80 per cent of them arriving in Greece after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey.
Since January, more than 120,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Greece by boat, the vast majority of them fleeing war zones in Syria and Iraq.
Tusk is due to meet Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later today, ahead of a key EU-Turkey summit next Monday. The country remains the key gateway into Europe and recent diplomatic efforts aim to encourage it to do more to help stem the flow of refugees through its borders.
The EC leader said Ankara should decide how to limit the influx, but added: "To many in Europe, the most promising method seems to be a fast and large-scale mechanism to ship back irregular migrants arriving in Greece."
Human rights groups have raised serious concerns over Turkey's treatment of refugees fleeing the Syrian war. "People trying to flee to Turkey from Syria have been beaten and shot at as they try to cross the border," says Human Rights Watch.
"Tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the surging violence in and around Aleppo are currently stranded at the Turkish-Syrian border, where they face the risk of death and injury," it warns.
Infographic by www.statista.com for TheWeek.co.uk
Nato chief: Islamic State is 'spreading like a cancer' among refugees
2 March
Campaigners have challenged the claim from Nato's top commander that refugees are "masking the movement" of terrorists.
Testifying to the US Senate armed services committee, General Philip Breedlove (pictured above) said Islamic State is "spreading like a cancer" among refugees and "taking advantage of paths of least resistance, threatening European nations and our own".
He added that many countries have reported cases where terrorists have been planning to carry out an attack.
Pressed to back up his remarks with data, Gen Breedlove said he would not discuss "intelligence" and admitted: "I can't give you a number on the estimate of the flow."
In reply, human rights activists stressed that only a very small minority of refugees even sympathise with terror groups.
"We are talking about needles in haystacks," said Bill Frelick, the director of the refugee programme for Human Rights Watch.
"It's not to say that there aren't dangerous needles in those haystacks, but overwhelmingly we're talking about people who are seeking protection and bear no ill will and I would say, in fact, bear gratitude to anyone who's willing to help them."
Gen Breedlove's statement reflects widespread anxiety following the Paris terror attacks last November, says The Guardian, despite campaigners emphasising that nearly all of those involved were French or Belgian.
"Giving in to fear in the wake of the atrocious attacks on Paris will not protect anyone," John Dalhuisen, the director of Amnesty International, has said.
Almost 130,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea since the beginning of this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
Refugee crisis: clashes in Calais camp as shelters torn down
01 March
Europe's refugee crisis has erupted into scenes of chaos across the continent.
In France, violent clashes broke out in Calais after demolition teams began carrying out an eviction order in the southern part of the "Jungle" refugee camp.
Riot police fired teargas and water cannon at refugees and migrants, who threw rocks in protest.
Makeshift shelters were also set ablaze. Some fires were deliberately lit, while other tents were set alight by tear gas canisters, The Guardian reports.
Thousands of refugees have been offered the choice of moving into repurposed shipping containers near the site or to accommodation centres elsewhere in France.
But volunteer groups warn the eviction will do little to ease pressure on the port town as the vast majority of refugees insist they will stay regardless.
Refugee Rights Data Project says the move is "unlikely to provide a viable solution to the current humanitarian crisis on our doorstep".
One Afghan refugee told AFP: "Going to Britain... is what people [here] want so destroying part of the Jungle is not the solution."
Meanwhile, tensions also ran high on the Greek border with Macedonia as refugees used a battering ram to break down a razor-wire fence after new restrictions were put in place. Police responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
Macedonia's decision to re-classify Afghans as economic migrants instead of refugees has left thousands of men, women and children stranded at the frontier with little food or shelter.
"There was a state of panic and hope that finally those gates towards Western Europe would open," reports Al Jazeera. "It's an emotional roller-coaster for these refugees and migrants who are here."
One Syrian refugee told the broadcaster: "I am suffering here. I am slowly dying here. I don't know what I'll do."
Refugee crisis: Greece recalls Austrian ambassador amid row
25 February
Greece has recalled its ambassador to Austria in a sign of the deepening divisions over the handling of Europe's refugee crisis.
"Responsibility for dealing with the migration and refugee crisis cannot weigh on one country alone," its government said in a statement.
The diplomatic row comes after Greece was not invited to attend a meeting of Baltic states in the Austrian capital Vienna yesterday aimed at managing the flow the refugees in the region.
It also follows Austria's decision last week to cap the number of refugees entering the country, which led to neighbouring Macedonia closing its border with Greece and trapping hundreds of migrants.
The bottleneck sparked a furious response from the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, who warned the European Union that the humanitarian crisis could not be left to one country to deal with.
"We will not tolerate being turned into a warehouse of souls," he said on Greek television.
More than 100,000 people have arrived in Europe so far this year, triple the rate of the first half of 2015, according to the International Organisation on Migration.
EU interior ministers are gathering in Brussels today to discuss the plans drawn up in Vienna in an attempt "to heal rifts that have plunged common policy into chaos", says the BBC.
The measures are believed to include turning away anyone without a passport and to only accept those considered to be in need of refuge.
"[This has been] interpreted by some governments as meaning only Syrians and Iraqis," says the BBC.
As Europe struggles to come up with a comprehensive response to the crisis at its borders, European Council President Donald Tusk warned a lack of action would raise the risk of Britain voting to leave the bloc in the upcoming referendum.
Refugees in Calais 'Jungle' await eviction notice decision
24 February
A French court has delayed its ruling on the legality of plans to dismantle part of the "Jungle" refugee camp in Calais, with a final decision expected imminently.
What are the French authorities trying to do?
Under pressure to clear the camp, which now houses as many as 6,000 people, the French authorities issued an eviction notice to the southern section of the site last week giving the refugees the choice of moving into repurposed shipping containers near Calais or accommodation centres elsewhere in the country.
Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the eviction would be done "with respect to people's dignity".
How have refugees and aid agencies responded?
Charities have launched a legal appeal against the eviction, arguing the accommodation on offer is unsuitable. They say the plan also threatens vital community facilities, such as centres for women and young people, a library and a mosque.
"I hate it here but at the same time, this is where we live now," Mohammed, from Afghanistan, told Reuters. "We don't want to go to a closed space that will be like a prison."
Aid agencies warn hundreds of unaccompanied children will be affected and a group of actors, including Jude Law, has called on the UK government to allow them safe passage into the country. "They are desperate. One little boy grabbed me and pleaded with me," said Law.
The charity Help Refugees said the move will "once more uproot those who have already had to abandon their homes fleeing war and persecution".
Refugee crisis: Britain doubles humanitarian aid for Syrians
04 February
Britain will double the amount of humanitarian aid it gives to Syrian refugees, David Cameron has announced ahead of a key fundraising summit in London.
"Today's pledge of more than £2.3bn in UK aid sets the standard for the international community – more money is needed to tackle this crisis and it is needed now," the Prime Minister said.
World leaders from 70 countries will meet with the heads of the United Nations and various charities and non-governmental organisations to develop a new response to the international crisis.
"This is a pivotal moment to offer the Syrian people and their children hope for a better future," International Development Secretary Justine Greening writes in the London Evening Standard.
Organisers are hoping to raise £6.2bn, much of which will be diverted from food handouts towards work and education opportunities for Syrians in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, says The Guardian.
Lebanon, which is about half the size of Wales, has shouldered the heaviest burden of the humanitarian crisis so far and taken in 1.2 million people – more than the whole of Europe combined.
Filippo Grandi, the UN's high commissioner for refugees, has warned that "aid alone will not suffice" and welcomed the focus on a longer-term solution.
Hours before the summit was due to kick off, UN-brokered peace talks between Syrian leaders and the opposition were called off in Geneva.
"Staffan de Mistura, the UN's special envoy at the talks, admitted there had been a lack of progress but said that the negotiations had not failed," reports the BBC.
Meanwhile, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad claim to have broken the siege of two rebel-held towns in the north-west of the country, severing a key supply route from Turkey.
Refugee crisis: EU ministers vote to end passport-free travel
26 January
Passport checks could be re-introduced between neighbouring EU nations and Greece faces being "effectively sealed off" as Europe struggles to control the influx of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa.
For more than 20 years, the Schengen agreement has allowed free movement between 26 European nations. This is now under threat after politicians in Amsterdam yesterday agreed it should be suspended for two years.
Speaking after the talks, Dutch immigration minister Klaas Dijkhoff said Schengen member governments would ask the European Commission for permission to put the agreement on hold.
"These measures are inevitable at this point in time," he added.
The refugee crisis is the "biggest challenge the union has faced", says The Guardian, adding that the talks were characterised by "gloom and confusion in the face of ever-rising numbers of people heading into Greece from Turkey".
Greece itself came under special scrutiny during the summit. It now faces being "effectively sealed off" after ministers discussed re-defining the Schengen zone to exclude the country altogether, says the Daily Telegraph.
There were also calls on Greece to set up vast holding camps for as many as 300,000 refugees in an attempt to stem the flow. At the moment, the country does not attempt to register migrants and refugees or prevent them from heading deeper into Europe.
Athens reacted with "fury" to the proposals, continues the Telegraph, with ministers saying they would turn Greece into a "cemetery of souls".
The crisis "threatens to tear the EU apart", adds the newspaper, with British Home Secretary Theresa May telling the summit: "Unfortunately, what we've had is more talk than action."
May is a noted Eurosceptic and could lead the No campaign in the EU referendum, says the Telegraph. However, the UK vote may not happen this summer if the refugee crisis and Schengen dominate next month's EU summit.
Refugee crisis 'putting EU in grave danger'
22 January
The ongoing refugee crisis is putting the Europe Union in grave danger of collapse, it was claimed yesterday.
Speaking at the Word Economic Forum in Davos, European leaders said the passport-free Schengen zone is at risk of collapse unless the flow of asylum-seekers can be stemmed.
More than a million refugees arrived in Europe last year, with Syria lying at the epicentre of the crisis. At least four million people have fled the country since the civil war began in 2011.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said more than 35,000 people had made the sea crossing from Turkey into Greece in the first three weeks of 2016 and that the situation was reaching breaking point.
"When spring comes, the numbers will quadruple. We cannot cope with the numbers any longer," he said. "We need to get a grip on this issue in the next six to eight weeks."
EU leaders are still hoping to reach an agreement which would see states agree to accept quotas of refugees, but admitted such a deal remained elusive, says Reuters.
Austria this week announced it would be capping the number of people allowed to apply for asylum at 1.5 per cent of its population, raising fears of a "domino effect" across Europe.
Rutte's comments were echoed by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who told the BBC the crisis was putting Europe in grave danger and called for the external borders to be secured.
"If Europe is not capable of protecting its own borders, it's the very idea of Europe that will be questioned," he warned.
Refugee crisis: Europe set to scrap 'first country' rule
20 January
The European Union looks set to scrap rules that say refugees must be dealt with by the first European country they enter.
The change will "revolutionise" Europe's migration policy and "shift the burden from its southern flank to its wealthier northern members", says the Financial Times.
The present policy, which has become "politically toxic" for EU leaders, essentially broke down last year, when Germany waived its right to send hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers back to other EU member states, says the newspaper.
Nevertheless, "frontier countries" such as Greece and Italy have faced criticism for failing to properly shelter and register more than one million people who have come into Europe from the Middle East and North Africa.
Brussels says the current rule is "unfair" and "outdated" and is expected to reform the system, part of the so-called Dublin Regulation, in a proposal to be unveiled in March, officials told the FT.
As a consequence, Britain may find it more difficult to send refugees back to neighbouring EU states, further encouraging them to head to the UK – a change that could be "problematic" for David Cameron ahead of Britain's EU referendum, claims The Independent.
"One of the main arguments of the British campaign to remain in the EU is that the regulations allow the UK to deport asylum-seekers if Britain is not the first European country that they arrived in," it says.
"If those regulations were to be changed, the UK might be forced to accept refugees who have managed to enter the country from across the Channel, regardless of where they first arrived in Europe."
However, the newspaper notes that "with no land border with any other country in the passport-free Schengen zone, Britain is not expected to see a strong surge in migration".
According to the Daily Telegraph, Britain is currently allowed to deport around 1,000 failed asylum-seekers a year to other EU states. A move to change these rules would "present Downing Street with a bruising battle in the middle of the renegotiation".
Turkey accused of illegally deporting 'up to hundreds' of refugees to Syria
15 January
Amnesty International has accused Turkey of breaking local and international law by deporting refugees back to Syria.
The charity claims that scores - and possibly several hundred – of refugees have been detained and forced to cross back into a war zone by Turkish authorities.
"Covert detention, deportation to a war zone: the charges are grave," says the BBC's Mark Lowen.
Andrew Gardner, the head of Amnesty in Turkey, says such treatment is "absolutely illegal because you cannot forcibly return someone to a place where their lives and rights are in danger".
He adds that Europe needs to "wake up" to the fact international law is being broken on its own borders.
Refugees spoke of how they had been mistreated at EU-funded detention centres and then transported back to the border, where they were coerced into signing voluntary return documents.
"They drove us to the border and forced us to sign a piece of paper on which was written, 'I want to go back to Syria,'" said one man.
"I didn't want to go back to Syria. Some of my friends have now been put in prison there, and many people were afraid of returning to a war zone."
An estimated two million Syrian refugees are now in Turkey. Last November, Ankara signed a deal with the EU to receive €3bn (£2.2bn) in exchange for slowing the flow of refugees to Europe.
"But that is contingent on improving conditions for refugees so more feel they can stay here, not deporting them back to a war zone," says Lowen.
Turkey has "categorically denied" the accusations and insists the United Nations' refugee agency interviews all returnees at the border to make sure they're going to Syria voluntarily.
Denmark debates seizing valuables from refugees
13 January
Danish MPs are debating a controversial immigration bill which would allow the government to seize valuables from refugees arriving in the country.
Under the proposed legislation, police will be given the power to confiscate gold, money and other items of value worth more than 10,000 kroner (around £1,000).
The bill was recently amended to allow asylum seekers to keep items that hold sentimental value. Items with a practical use – such as mobile phones and watches – will also be exempt.
The move has prompted comparisons to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany and been condemned by the United Nations' refugee agency, which warns it could further fuel fear and xenophobia.
"Refugees have lost their homes and almost everything they possess," UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told the BBC.
"It beggars belief that somebody would want to strip them away from the little they have managed to salvage from their lives."
The ruling centre-right Venstre party defended the law, calling it the "most misunderstood bill in Denmark's history".
Integration minister Inger Stojberg said similar laws already apply to Danish nationals seeking help from the welfare state.
"It is already the case that if you as a Dane have valuables for more than 10,000 kroner, it may be required that this is sold before you can receive unemployment benefits," she said.
Denmark is thought to have accepted 20,000 refugees last year, far fewer than neighbouring Sweden, which welcomed 163,000.
The bill will be voted on later this month and the Venstre party will require support from the Danish People's Party, the Liberal Alliance and the Conservative People's Party if it is to pass.
Refugee crisis: Sweden imposes ID checks at key link
4 January 2016
Sweden has introduced border checks for travellers from Denmark to stem the influx of migrants.
From today, all train, bus and ferry passengers on the Oresund bridge-and-tunnel link will be required to show photo identification before being allowed across the border, reports the BBC.
Lengthy delays are expected at the link, which has been a major entry point for migrants and refugees. Travellers had been able to cross borders between the two Nordic countries without passports since the late 1950s.
The Swedish government hopes the move will keep out undocumented migrants. Sweden, which received more than 150,000 asylum applications in 2015, has taken in more asylum seekers per capita than any other European nation. It says it can no longer cope with the unregulated flow of new arrivals.
But a spokesman for the United Nations said it viewed the development with "growing concern". Mattias Axelsson, from UNHCR in northern Europe, told a Swedish news agency: "There is a tremendous strain to be on the run and you cannot expect that those who are entitled to asylum will also have the right documents with them from the beginning – it is quite impossible."
Passenger groups are also concerned. After a temporary fence was built at Copenhagen airport's Kastrup station, where trains will be stopped for the mandatory controls, a spokesman for the Kystbanen commuters' association said: "It's as if we are building a Berlin Wall here. We are going several steps back in time."
Sweden has secured a temporary exemption from the European Union's open-border Schengen agreement, in order to impose the border controls.
Several other European Union countries, including Germany, Austria and France, also re-imposed border checks last year as the continent faced a major refugee crisis. One million migrants arrived in Europe by land or sea in 2015, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
Refugees sew lips shut in protest at Macedonian border
24 November
Refugees have sewn their lips together in protest against not being allowed to cross the border into Macedonia.
A group of men, some of whom were believed to be from Iran's Kurdish minority, staged the protest after authorities deemed them to be "economic migrants" and denied them entry into the country.
Balkans nations have tightened border controls in the wake of the Paris attacks and will only accept those fleeing war in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, the BBC reports.
The decision has left thousands of people, including young children escaping conflict in other parts of the world, stranded in the remote village of Idomeni in Greece.
Asked where he wanted to go, an Iranian man involved in the protests told Sky News: "To any free country in the world. I cannot go back. I will be hanged," he said.
Temperatures continue to plummet and aid organisations are growing increasingly concerned about refugees forced to spend winter out in the open.
"Cold weather is coming to Europe at greater speed than its leadership's ability to make critical decisions," The Guardian reports.
Peter Bouckaert, the director of emergencies for Human Rights Watch, has accused European institutions of failing to respond to the humanitarian disaster. Those in need are forced to rely on volunteers for basic needs like shelter, food, clothes and medical assistance, he says.
"We have found out that one country after the other are closing their borders," said Marian, a 24-year-old refugee from Afghanistan. "With winter just around the corner, what will happen to us? What will happen to my children?"
Refugee crisis: is border-free Europe on the verge of collapse?
20 November
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned that Europe's passport-free zone could collapse in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.
The free movement of people guaranteed under the Schengen agreement is one of the founding principles of the EU, but it has come under increasing pressure during the ongoing refugee crisis.
The events in the French capital have increased support for tighter controls, with Valls saying some of those involved in the attacks may have taken advantage of the "chaos" at Europe's borders.
One of the suicide bombers involved in the Paris attacks left a fake Syrian passport at the scene. He had allegedly used it to gain entry into the EU through Greece.
Valls's warning comes as leaders meet for yet more crisis talks in Brussels. Today's emergency security summit is likely to result in increased checks across the union's borders, says Sky News.
A number of European nations have already introduced temporary controls at their own borders as they struggle to deal with huge influx of people coming through the EU's porous external frontiers.
But these security checks can are allowed for a maximum of two months and are only allowed for "public policy or national security" reasons.
"What you hear repeatedly from European officials and politicians is this: if the EU's external borders cannot be fixed then the Schengen zone cannot survive," says the BBC.
Finland's interior minister, Petteri Orpo, is among those warning that the end of the agreement is looming. "Tens of thousands of people were coming into Europe and they are not being registered," he warned. "We don't know who they are."
But the Centre for European Reform argues that Europe should not dismantle Schengen – but rather improve the system by processing refugees more effectively, boosting external border security and sharing intelligence.
It also suggests that the fake Syrian passport in Paris could have been a deliberate plot to reignite the debate about Europe's asylum policies.
"Why would a terrorist leave a passport behind? European governments should not fall into [the] trap by responding with knee-jerk reactions such as closing borders."
Doing so would also do nothing to stop home-grown terrorists – like the French and Belgian nationals involved in the Paris attacks – as international law prohibits a country from denying entry to its own nationals.
So what does this mean for the future of the Schengen? "It is most unlikely that the Schengen agreement will be suspended because it is a core European freedom," says the BBC's Gavin Hewitt.
"What is more likely in the weeks ahead is that countries in the Schengen zone quietly begin reinforcing their national borders."
Refugee crisis: is EU aid offer to Africa 'bordering on blackmail'?
11 November
European leaders are meeting with their African counterparts at a summit in Malta today to discuss solutions to the worsening refugee crisis.
On the table is a controversial proposal to increase funding and other forms of aid to African nations that help stop the flow of hundreds of thousands of people across the Mediterranean.
"The aim is to tackle the economic and security problems that cause people to flee," reports the BBC. It is also hoped the deal will help persuade countries to take back failed asylum seekers.
European Council President Donald Tusk said efforts would focus on poverty reduction and conflict prevention. "It also includes the issue of taking back those who do not yet qualify for a visa, or those who do not require international protection," he said on the eve of the summit.
The European Commission is in the process of setting up a €1.8bn "trust fund" for Africa and is encouraging its 28-member states to match that amount – though this seems unlikely.
Observers have raised a number of concerns about the proposals. There are fears human rights could suffer if African nations seeking aid benefits prevent refugees from fleeing.
Cecile Kyenge, a Congo-born Italian member of the European parliament said the offer was "bordering on blackmail," according to South Africa's News24.
There are also concerns that plans to sharply reduce the number of people arriving in Europe would cut off a vital source of remittance income from their economies, Channel 4 News reports.
The United Nation estimates that nearly 800,000 refugees have arrived in Europe so far this year, while more than 3,000 have died or gone missing making the dangerous journey.
The vast majority of them are fleeing war in countries like Syria and Iraq, but many are also escaping conflict in Eritrea, South Sudan and Somalia.
Today's summit comes as yet more deaths are reported in the Mediterranean. At least 14 people, including seven children, drowned after their boat sank between Turkey and the Greek island of Lesbos.
Refugee crisis: Tony Abbott tells Europe it should turn back boats
28 November
Former Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has raised eyebrows with a speech condemning Europe's response to the growing refugee crisis.
In his first major speech since being ousted from power, Abbott told guests at an annual event in London to honour Margaret Thatcher that "misguided altruism" was "leading Europe into catastrophic error".
More than 670,000 people have entered Europe this year in the largest migration since the end of the Second World War. The vast majority of them are fleeing war in countries like Syria and Iraq.
But Abbott disputed these facts, arguing that many of those arriving in Europe are economic migrants. He urged EU leaders to urgently adopt Australia's hardline policy towards refugees and migrants.
"This means turning boats around, for people coming by sea," he said to applause from the Conservative crowd. "It means denying entry at the border, for people with no legal right to come. And it means establishing camps for people who have nowhere to go."
He admitted such hard action "will gnaw at our consciences - yet it is the only way to prevent a tide of humanity surging through Europe and quite possibly changing it forever".
Abbott's stance was praised by Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who described his speech as "heroic".
"There is a very big difference between being a civilised country that recognises that there are genuine refugees from time to time and having a lunatic policy that I'm afraid [Europe] has pushed," Farage said.
However, his comments weren't as well received by opposition politicians and human rights groups at home. "I'm not sure Tony Abbott on a victory lap giving a Margaret Thatcher Lecture is exactly what Europe needs to solve its problems," opposition leader Bill Shorten told ABC News.
The president of the Refugee Council of Australia, Phil Glendenning, warned that Abbott's approach would have horrific consequences. "It would be an utter catastrophe if people fleeing from persecution were told to go back there, were pushed back to sea where they would likely drown," he said.
Australia's refugee response has been widely condemned by human rights organisations in recent years. Authorities refuse to accept boats carrying asylum seekers, instead sending them to offshore detention camps where allegations of abuse are widespread.
Refugees 'will freeze to death' in the Balkans unless Europe unites
26 October
Refugees will freeze to death in the Balkans unless European leaders can offer a coordinated response to the growing crisis, senior officials and aid agencies have warned.
European leaders managed to agree on a raft of new measures at an emergency summit in Brussels this weekend, but deep divisions remain over how to respond to the crisis.
The new plan involves increasing the capacity of reception centres in Greece and the Balkans by 100,000 as well as strengthening border controls along Greek and Slovenian borders.
But the deal is nothing but "a watered down version" of the co-operation European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had been hoping for, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson.
Even before the summit began, Croatia's Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said the "unrealistic" plan had been created by someone "who had just woken up from a months-long sleep".
The Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksander Vucic, said the agreement would not be "immediately helpful" to refugees already in Europe. We're looking at "small steps," he said.
More than 670,000 people have crossed into Europe this year in the largest movement of people since the end of the Second World War. Nearly 10,000 refugees arrived every day in Greece last week.
Juncker says a solution is urgently needed as thousands of refugees could freeze to death when temperatures begin to plummet in the Balkans. "Every day counts," he said, according to the Daily Telegraph. "Otherwise we will soon see families in cold rivers in the Balkans perish miserably."
His calls are echoed by human rights organisations which warn that refugees won't survive the winter without immediate help.
"As winter looms, the sight of thousands of refugees sleeping rough as they make their way through Europe represents a damning indictment of the EU's failure to offer a coordinated response to the crisis," says John Dalhuisen of Amnesty International.
The latest EU agreement comes as the bodies of men, women and children continue to wash up on Europe's shores. A woman and two children drowned and seven other people are missing after their boat sunk off the Greek island of Lesbos.
Neo-Nazis infiltrating refugee centres, German media reports
22 October
Far-right extremists are infiltrating refugee centres across Germany and putting refugees at risk, an investigation by the German state broadcaster has revealed.
The ZDF documentary highlighted several cases where men with ties to far-right extremist groups were working in hostels housing asylum seekers.
In one case, a convicted member of the neo-Nazi group Sturm 18 was employed as a security guard in the city of Heidelberg, The Daily Telegraph reports.
In another case near the city of Dresden, a man was suspended from his job at a hostel for allegedly posting an image on Facebook which redefined the word Nazi as "Not Adjustable to Islamisation".
The documentary blamed the infiltration on poor screening, with a separate investigation by authorities in Brandenburg revealing that many known extremists are working in the security sector, the Telegraph says.
The investigations come amid a surge in support for the far-right movement in Germany, led largely by the Pegida group.
Dubbed "Nazis in pinstripes", the group's members oppose the German government's willingness to accept up to 800,000 refugees fleeing conflict in places like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, Pegida marked its first anniversary with a large rally in Dresden. One of the speakers at the event is currently under investigation for hate speech after inflammatory comments about refugees.
"Of course there are other alternatives," he told cheering crowds, "but the concentration camps are unfortunately out of action at the moment."
German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the movement was "a reservoir of racist xenophobia" and accused Pegida's leaders of using the "battle rhetoric" of the early Nazi party.
Despite Pegida's surge in popularity, their rallies are often outnumbered by counter-demonstrations and support for refugees is sweeping the nation, The Guardian reported last month.
"Thousands of Germans have pitched in; they take food and clothes to the camps, take refugees to meetings with the authorities in their own cars, pay their fares, foot their medical bills, teach German, and go on demonstrations against rightwing attacks across the country."
Refugee crisis: thousands stranded in Balkans
19 October
Thousands of refugees remain stranded in the Balkans after their path to Western Europe was stalled by new controls.
Following the closure to refugees of Hungary's border with Croatia on Friday, Croatia asked its neighbour Slovenia to accept 5,000 refugees daily. But in a bid to limit the flow of people into Western Europe, Slovenia – a country of two million people – said it would take only half that number.
This led to thousands spending the night in the open air, in cold and wet conditions, while nearly two thousand people were stranded on a train near the border. Some of the passengers disembarked and walked along the tracks, wrapped in plastic sheeting to protect themselves against the rain.
Hungary closed its border after its right-wing government said the mainly Muslim migrants posed a threat to Europe's prosperity, security and "Christian values". The unrelenting flow of people was then diverted to Slovenia, which is now accepting only around 2,500 arrivals daily, massively stalling the movement of people as they fled their countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
This has led to crowded and shambolic scenes at the border. A reporter said exhausted and cold refugees chanted: "Open the gate, open the gate!"
Meanwhile, a charity official working at the border says the situation is deteriorating. "We don't have any more raincoats," Dr Ramiz Momeni, director of the UK-based Humanitas Charity, told Reuters.
"There's a bottleneck of people that can't get anywhere so they have to stay here in the rain. Some of these people have been here under sheets for 12 hours. Of course, they're going to get sick."
Refugee crisis: EU and Turkey agree action plan
16 October
The EU and Turkey have agreed an action plan to try to stem the flow of refugees from the Middle East, most of them Syrians travelling through Turkey to reach Europe. Turkey has agreed to take concrete steps in return for "political support".
The BBC says that the EU has agreed to look again at Turkey becoming a member state and to accelerate visa liberalisation for Turks wanting to enter the open-bordered Schengen area of Europe. Turkey has also asked for €3bn (£2.2bn) in financial aid.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to travel to Istanbul on Sunday for further talks with the Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said he felt "cautious optimism" as he announced the plan in Brussels last night.
But the Guardian warns that the chances of a "meaningful pact with Ankara" to stem the flow of refugees are slim and would probably entail Europe accepting many of the two million displaced Syrians currently in Turkey.
Every area of discussion at yesterday's summit, the fourth this year on refugees, was "hotly contested", says the paper. Diplomats said afterwards that the €3bn aid package was not available and warned of resistance among Schengen leaders to the visa proposal.
Nothing was finalised in Brussels, warns the paper. The German chancellor admitted that there was "still a huge amount to do" and could only say that the talks have "not achieved nothing".
"The likelihood is high that the actions following the summit will fail to match the rhetoric," says the Guardian.
Also discussed at the summit yesterday were German and European Commission plans to force member states to take refugees on a quota basis – and the beefed-up policing of the EU frontier, measures the Guardian calls "repressive".
According to the Daily Telegraph, some 350,000 people have entered Europe via Turkey since January. The paper quotes Merkel as saying it "makes sense" for the EU to give Turkey the €3bn that the Telegraph dubs a "sweetener".
Merkel points out that Turkey has spent €7bn coping with the influx of refugees and policing its borders.
Calais mayor plans theme park amid refugee crisis
14 October
The mayor of Calais hopes to open a theme park in the town to counter the negative headlines it has attracted as a result of the refugee crisis.
Natacha Bouchart believes the €275m (£204m) project will improve the Channel port's reputation and transform it into a popular tourist resort.
The theme park, Heroic Land, would be constructed on a 50-hectare site about two miles from the New Jungle, the camp that houses around 3,000 migrants trying to reach Britain, reports The Times.
Due to open in 2019, the park could attract 1.5 million visitors a year, says the team behind the project.
It would boast 32 attractions with themes that include 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Lord of The Rings and Japanese manga cartoons. An online video presents a CGI mock-up of the completed project. A neighbouring commercial village will combine leisure, shopping, hotels and restaurants.
"There is a problem of migrants here and that harms the area's image," said Marc Legrand, a manager at Calais Promotion, the business development agency for the town. "The creation of the park will associate Calais with a positive image."
The French government has bankrolled a €220,000 study on the viability of the proposal, while the regional council will inject a further €400,000. Bouchart hopes that private investors will come up with the €275m construction cost.
The project would create 1,000 jobs in a city that has an unemployment rate of almost 17 per cent – one of the highest in France.
Yesterday it was reported that the New Jungle camp now features its own nightclub, set up by British activists in a dome-shaped tent called the Good Chance Theatre.
Refugee crisis: Angela Merkel headscarf mock-up sparks anger
7 October
A German television station has been accused of spreading anti-Islamic propaganda after it displayed an image of Chancellor Angela Merkel wearing a headscarf.
The photoshopped image was used by ARD as a backdrop for a debate on refugee quotas. It showed Merkel wearing a traditional chador against a backdrop of mosques flying German flags.
"This is not constructive journalism," one viewer wrote on social media, while others called the report "manipulative" and "appalling", according to the BBC.
Critics also pointed out that the image was similar to one used by the far-right, anti-Islam Pegida group which campaigns for stricter immigration laws and for limits to the country's refugee intake.
The station defended its decision, saying the graphic was intended as satire and reflected "the achievements of our Western society - freedom of expression, press freedom and equality".
Germany remains divided on how to respond to the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War, as the country prepares to accept more than a million people fleeing war and conflict.
Meanwhile, the EU has launched a new naval operation in the Mediterranean. Previous efforts had focused on search and rescue, but under Operation Sophia, authorities will be given the power to search, seize and divert boats suspected of being used for human smuggling.
This comes as secret plans emerged to deport hundreds of thousands of failed asylum seekers from Europe. The documents, seen by The Times, include threats from Brussels to withdraw aid, trade deals and visa arrangements from countries that refuse to take back economic migrants.
But civil liberties groups warn that the proposals will not work. "Refugees, who have fled from war, persecution and poverty do not want to return to the country they have come from," said Tony Bunyan, the director of Statewatch.
Refugee crisis: EU opens its chequebook but tightens its borders
24 September
European Union leaders have pledged additional funding to international aid agencies and agreed on new measures to secure the continent's borders in response to the growing refugee crisis.
At an emergency summit in Brussels, £700m was promised to help UN agencies support refugees in the Middle East in order to stem the tide of refugees arriving in Europe, the BBC reports.
More help for Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey was also promised during the meeting, as was greater assistance for Balkan states, where thousands of refugees arrive daily as they travel north.
"The EU chequebook was the key instrument" at the summit, but leaders also agreed to strengthen the EU's external borders by boosting border security forces, The Guardian reports.
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker described the talks as "excellent" and said they took place in a "better than expected atmosphere", but deep divisions within the union have nonetheless emerged.
The controversial quota deal pushed through earlier this week led Hungary's Prime Minister to accuse Germany of "moral imperialism", while Slovakia and the Czech Republic threatened to take the matter to the courts.
Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council who chaired yesterday's summit, admitted that the measures would not solve the crisis, but said they were all "necessary steps" in the right direction.
He warned that "the greatest tide of refugees and migrants is yet to come" and urged Europe to correct its policy of "open doors and windows".
But Michael Moller, director-general of the UN office in Geneva, urged compassion. "Any one of us may one day need refuge," he writes in The Guardian. "Empathy, generosity and sound policies today will greatly improve the chances of the same being applied to our calamities tomorrow."
Ultimately, the measures agreed this week will do little to ease the immediate chaos and tensions at Europe's border or to slow the boatloads of refugees reaching the Greek islands from Turkey, says Reuters. The same issues will dominate further crisis talks scheduled for next month.
Refugee crisis: EU pushes through quotas despite opposition
23 September
European interior ministers have approved a controversial plan to relocate 120,000 refugees across the continent over the next two years, despite fierce opposition from some members.
The proposal to distribute the refugees across the EU's 28 member states is designed to take pressure off countries like Italy and Greece, where the vast majority have arrived by boat this year.
French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised the deal, calling it a "testament to the capacity of Europe to take responsibility" in the wake of the growing humanitarian crisis.
But leaders remain bitterly divided over the best way to tackle the continent's worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. After days of "toxic rhetoric", the proposal was pushed through on a qualified majority vote, the Daily Telegraph reports.
A series of angry statements was issued shortly after the announcement. Four nations - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia - voted against the plan, while Finland abstained.
The Hungarian government dubbed the scheme an invitation to economic migrants, while Slovakia's Robert Fico vowed that "as long as I am prime minister, migrant quotas will not be implemented"
The Financial Times describes the agreement "a compromise plan, intended to take some of political heat out of the decision", while The Guardian says the result will "feed central European resentment of what they perceive as western - and especially German - bullying".
But the UN refugee agency said the measures did not go far enough, with the 120,000 figure equivalent to the number of refugees that arrive in Europe in a single 20 day-period.
"The relocation plan in itself will not be sufficient to solve the crisis," said the organisation's Carlotta Sami. "This is clearly not enough. The EU states will have to increase the numbers."
Meanwhile, the first Syrian refugees have arrived in Britain since the government announced that it would welcome 20,000 in the next five years. David Cameron has opted out of the EU quotas, but promised to welcome more refugees after mounting pressure.
The Home Office has not clarified how many were in the group or if they were part of the extended relocation scheme, but the BBC's Daniel Sandford says the first arrivals amounted to "little more than a handful" of "very vulnerable" refugees.
Refugee crisis: more deaths at sea as EU prepares for talks
21 September
European leaders are preparing to hold another round of crisis talks this week, as the continent struggles to cope with the growing refugee crisis and the death toll continues to rise.
Foreign ministers from the 28-member states will attend an emergency summit in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss longer-term strategies to deal with the crisis – but deep divisions remain.
Speaking ahead of the talks, Angela Merkel called on other European nations to remember that the crisis is "not just a German challenge, but one for all of Europe", The Guardian reports
Leaders remain bitterly divided on the issues of mandatory quotas and planned redistribution schemes, with several Eastern European countries refusing to take part.
The ongoing humanitarian crisis has triggered a diplomatic stand-off in the region. The Hungarian government called Croatia's prime minister "pathetic" after the government accused Budapest of breaking international law by refusing to allow refugees to cross its border.
Romania, meanwhile, called Hungary's border closures "autistic" which prompted the Hungarians to taunt Romania over corruption charges faced by its prime minister," The Times reports.
The war of words was "all too reminiscent" of the language of the regional tensions of 25 years ago, says a Guardian editorial.
"Old hostilities [have been] reignited by the common European failure to overcome the difficulties and forge a joint strategy to share the problem and address it in a pragmatic and humane way," it says.
The diplomatic row comes after 13 people, including six children, drowned off the coast of Turkey, after their dinghy collided with a ferry. The refugees were making their way to the Greek island of Lesbos, where thousands of people fleeing conflict in Syria have arrived in recent months.
Refugee crisis: chaos as Croatia closes border with Serbia
18 September
Croatia has become the latest European nation to seal off its borders after being overwhelmed by thousands of refugees entering the country.
The government made the move after more than 10,000 people entered the county following Hungary's decision to fence off its border with Serbia, forcing refugees to seek an alternative route.
Croatia had at first welcomed the refugees and promised them safe passage through the country, but within 48 hours, Croatian Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said his country was "absolutely full".
He told refugees: "Don't come here anymore. Stay in refugee centres in Serbia and Macedonia and Greece. This is not the road to Europe. Buses can't take you there. It's a lie."
President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has also instructed the military to be ready to respond.
The U-turn sparked chaotic scenes at the border, with hundreds of refugees pushing through police lines in an attempt to board trains to neighbouring Slovenia. Meanwhile, the Slovenian government said it had stopped a train carrying hundreds of refugees and would force it to return to Croatia.
"It was a scene that once again underscored the inability of European governments to comprehend and prepare for the continent’s biggest wave of mass migration since the Second World War," says The Guardian's Patrick Kingsley.
Croatia's decision follows similar moves by Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, who have all suspended the Shengen system in response to the crisis. The border closures have effectively cut off the refugees main land route from Greece to northern Europe, the BBC's Guy Delauney reports.
European Council president Donald Tusk has summoned EU leaders to an emergency summit for September 23, as the continent remains divided about how to respond to the crisis.
Meanwhile, tensions have calmed at the Hungarian border after hundreds were injured when riot fired tear gas and water cannon at refugees attempting to cross the Serbian border.
Criticism of the Hungarian government's actions has continued, with the UN High Commissioner for refugees Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein deploring the "xenophobic and anti-Muslim views" he said appear to lie at the heart of current Hungarian government policy, The Guardian reports.
Some refugees remain camped out at Europe's closed borders, while others said they planned to continue their journeys. "I just want peace," said 40-year-old Amjad el-Omairi from Iraq. "And I'll keep going even if I have to cross another sea to find it."
UN 'shocked and saddened' by Hungary's clashes with refugees
17 September
The United Nations has condemned Hungary's response to the refugee crisis after riot police fired tear gas at crowds attempting to cross the Serbian border, injuring up to 300 people.
The Roszke-Horgos border crossing has become the latest flashpoint in the growing crisis, with thousands of refugees left stranded after the Hungarian government decided to close its borders.
Riot police used tear gas, pepper spray and water cannon to push refugees, including women and children, back from the razor-wire fence, The Guardian reports.
Amnesty International observers at the scene said at least seven children were among those injured during the clashes, with one sustaining a head wound and others blinded by pepper spray.
Police said the refugees had become "aggressive" and were throwing sticks and stones. "[We are] protecting the border of Hungary and the EU while respecting the law," they said in a statement.
However, a UN official at the scene said that it did not appear that the refugees had breached the barrier, Reuters reports.
The UN Refugee Agency said it was "shocked and saddened to witness Syrian refugees, including families with children who have already suffered so much," being treated in this manner, while International Rescue Committee chief David Miliband said Hungary's response to the humanitarian disaster reveals "a dark side of the European character".
The Serbian government also responded with anger, arguing that Hungarian police were not authorised to fire into Serbian territory. Accusing Hungary of "brutal" behaviour, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic called on member states to behave "in line with European values".
In stark contrast to the Hungarian response, Croatia has promised to allow refugees safe passage through the country, with Croatian police waiting at the Serbian border to transport refugees to the nearest town. Thousands have entered the country in recent days in search of an alternative route to Western Europe.
But adding to the chaos and uncertainty, Croatian officials warned that there are two square kilometres of live landmines on the Serbian border left over from the Balkans war, The Guardian reports.
"There is always the possibility that somebody could enter these suspected hazardous areas and get wounded or even killed," said Miljenko Vahtaric, from the Croatia Mine Action Centre.
But those who have already made long, dangerous journeys to escape the war in Syria say it is worth the risk. "We have passed too much to give up now," Mehmed from Damascus told Sky News.
Refugee crisis: thousands stranded as Europe divided
16 September
Thousands of refugees have been left stranded as Europe closes off its borders and remains bitterly divided on how to respond to the crisis.
Huge crowds of refugees, many of them having made the dangerous journey from Syria, were stuck at the Hungarian border in Serbia overnight chanting: "No food, no water – let us cross the border."
Hungary's decision to close its southern border with Serbia has forced many to find alternative routes to Western Europe - through Croatia, Bosnia or Romania. "Fortress Europe [has] begun to pull up the few drawbridges still open," reports The Guardian's Patrick Kingsley.
The Hungarian government has also declared a state of emergency in two southern counties, begun arresting refugees who enter illegally and announced plans to close its border with Romania.
"We're Palestinian-Syrians, where else are we supposed to go now?" asked Radwan, a refugee from Yarmouk who was one of the first to be turned away at the Hungarian border.
"We're coming from destruction and killing," he said cradling his three-year-son Abdallah. "I shouldn't have to take five children all the way here for us to be shut out here."
Amnesty International has accused Hungary's President Victor Orban of "showing the ugly face of Europe’s shambolic response to the growing refugee crisis".
Meanwhile, Austria introduced security checks along its border with Hungary and warned the measures could be extended to its frontiers with Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia if required.
"The collective display demonstrated European leaders' continued belief that the biggest mass migration since the Second World War is a possibility to be avoided, rather than a certainty to be better managed," says Kingsley.
The new border closures and refusals to sign up to planned quota schemes are deepening divisions in Europe as the continent struggles to respond to the overwhelming humanitarian crisis.
Germany has said it is time to consider imposing financial sanctions on countries like Hungary and the Czech Republic that are refusing to respond to the crisis and agree to resettlement quotas.
"We need to talk about ways of exerting pressure," said the country's interior minister Thomas de Maiziè. "These are often countries that receive a lot of structural funds from the EU."
Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed her despair at the EU's failure to welcome refugees and called for a planned refugee summit to be brought forward, The Independent reports. "We cannot wait until mid-October," she said.
Refugee crisis: Europe tightens borders as talks end in failure
15 September
European nations have backtracked on the EU's open border policy as emergency talks on the growing refugee crisis ended in deadlock.
Hungary has implemented a "draconian" system which criminalises refugees who enter the country without permission, says Reuters. Hundreds of refugees, many of them fleeing Syria, were stopped by police at the Serbian border and could face deportation and even imprisonment.
The Hungarian government says refugees will still be allowed to claim asylum at two official border crossings, but warns that those who have entered through Serbia will be forced to return as Hungary considers it to be a "safe country". However, the United Nations refugee agency disputes this.
Austria and Slovakia have announced that they will be following Germany's lead by reinstating border controls to cope with the influx of refugees. Poland said it was considering taking similar action, while the Netherlands is increasing border patrols.
Germany's decision has set a "precedent" for other European nations to suspend the Schengen system, says Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland. "Until now people have been able to travel without having to show any documents as long as they were coming from another EU country," she said.
Meanwhile, EU leaders meeting to discuss the crisis agreed to relocate 40,000 migrants from Greece and Italy to other member states, but failed to reach a decision on quotas and further relocation.
The European Commission has been hoping to move forward with plans for a compulsory quota scheme that would allow for the relocation of 120,000 refugees among member states, but was met with strong resistance from countries including Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
"We did not have the agreement we wanted," the EU's migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said after the talks, adding that he hoped a deal would be reached in October.
The aunt of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old boy who died crossing from Turkey to Greece, has urged the EU to do more to respond to the growing humanitarian crisis.
"Open your heart and take action and come up with a shared plan," Teema Kurdi told the Daily Telegraph. "It's too late for Alan and Ghalib and Rihana, but it's not too late for thousands of children and their families who risk everything trying to reach safe haven."
"Instead of putting up fences, I appeal to Europe and the world's politicians to open their doors."
Refugee crisis: Germany reinstates border controls
14 September
Germany has introduced temporary controls at its border with Austria after being overwhelmed by the surge in refugees arriving in the country.
Trains arriving from Austria were also suspended as Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere called on other EU countries to do more to help. More than 13,000 asylum seekers arrived in Munich on Saturday, on top of the 450,000 who have come to Germany this year, according to Al Jazeera.
This is a "politically shrewd" move by the interior minister, says the BBC's Damien McGuinness. Coming just a day before he is due to travel to Brussels for talks on how to respond to the migrant crisis, the measure will help him put pressure on other European countries to do their bit, he says. "It highlights just how much Germany is struggling to cope."
Home Secretary Theresa May will be joining her European counterparts at the emergency meeting later today. The UK government has made it clear it will not be taking part in the planned mandatory quota scheme, which would see 160,000 refugees redistributed equally among member states.
Meanwhile, David Cameron has travelled to Lebanon to visit refugees who have fled the conflict in Syria. "I wanted to come here to see for myself and to hear for myself stories of refugees," he said during his visit to the camp in the Bekaa valley, less than a mile from the Syrian border.
His trip come less than a week after the government announced plans to welcome 20,000 Syrian refugees from camps in the Middle East over the next five years.
But former foreign secretary David Miliband has joined growing calls for the government to do more to respond to the humanitarian crisis. "Each country needs to shoulder the burden and agree to both relocate refugees who have reached the continent and resettle the most vulnerable from the Middle East," he said during a visit to Greek island of Lesbos, where thousands of refugees arrive every day.
The political wrangling comes as 34 refugees, almost half of them babies and children, drowned off the coast of the Greek island of Farmakonisi, The Guardian reports. "We should mourn but also act," the ruling Syriza party said in response to the tragedy. "Our country is, because of its geographic position, a gateway and it needs support, funds and infrastructure in order to help these desperate people, as it must do."
Refugee crisis: plans for compulsory EU quotas announced
9 September
The European Commission has outlined plans for a compulsory quota scheme that would allow for the relocation of 120,000 refugees among member states.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the commission, said the plans would provide a "swift, determined and comprehensive" response to the refugee crisis engulfing Europe.
Speaking to the European Parliament, he reminded ministers of the continent's history. "Europe is a continent where almost everyone has been a refugee," said Juncker.
"We Europeans should know and should never forget why giving refuge and complying with the fundamental rights is so important."
The number of refugees sent to each country would depend on a number of factors, including population, GDP and the number of asylum applications already processed, the BBC reports.
Other proposals include increasing funding for the European border agency, reviewing the so-called Dublin system whereby people are required to claim asylum in the first EU state they arrive in and allowing asylum seekers to work while their claims are processed, the Financial Times reports.
The quota plans will be discussed by EU ministers at a meeting in Brussels next week and there is likely to be strong opposition from several Eastern European states, particularly Hungary.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said he doesn't want to change his country’s ethnic make-up, the Independent reports. "If Hungarians decided, 'No, thank you,' nobody has the right tell us to change," he said.
Angela Merkel yesterday warned that there would be "consequences" for states that do not comply with the scheme. Those that refuse to adhere to the system are likely to face financial penalties.
Britain is exempt from EU asylum policy and David Cameron has made it clear that the government will not be taking part in any quota schemes.
Juncker was heckled during his speech by Britain's anti-EU MEP Nigel Farage, but he dismissed the Ukip leader's comments as "worthless rubbish".
Migrant crisis: more than 70 people found dead in Austria lorry
28 August 2015
More than 70 bodies have been discovered in the back of a lorry in Austria and hundreds of refugees are feared dead after two boats sunk in the Mediterranean, as Europe's migrant crisis deepens.
Austrian police discovered the badly decomposed bodies of 71 people in a lorry which had been abandoned on motorway near the Hungarian border.
The 59 men, eight women and four children are believed to be Syrian refugees and probably died after suffocating in the back of the vehicle, police told the BBC.
Three people, thought to be Bulgarian nationals who owned and drove the vehicle, have been arrested Hungary in connection with the deaths.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "shaken by the appalling news" during a summit on the European refugee crisis in Vienna.
"This is a warning for us to tackle the issue of migration quickly. We have more refugees in the world than at any time since the Second World War," she said. "The world’s eyes are upon us."
Meanwhile, hundreds more refugees have reportedly drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Libya. Two boats carrying about 500 people capsized shortly after leaving the country, with Libyan officials reporting that 200 of them were rescued.
Earlier this week, the bodies of 51 people were discovered in the hold of a stricken ship off the coast of Libya. They were discovered by a Swedish coastguard ship which also rescued more than 400 survivors – among at least 3,000 migrants saved that day, the BBC reports.
The UN estimates that nearly 2,500 migrants have died trying to make the perilous sea crossing this year alone. It says the vast majority are refugees fleeing war and persecution in countries in North Africa and the Middle East.
Amnesty International has called the current global refugee crisis one of the "defining challenges" of the 21st century and condemned the response from world leader as "a shameful failure."
"Millions of women, men and children [are] struggling to survive amidst brutal wars, networks of people traffickers and governments who pursue selfish political interests instead of showing basic human compassion," secretary general Salil Shetty said in a statement in June.
German MP invites Eritrean asylum seekers to live with his family
4 August 2015
A conservative German politician has welcomed two asylum seekers into his home and is urging other citizens to do the same.
Martin Patzelt, an MP in the ruling Christian Democrats Party, invited the young men to live with him and his family after meeting them at his local church.
The two men, 19-year-old Haben and 24-year-old Awet, fled conflict in Eritrea and crossed the Mediterranean from Libya in a small wooden boat , the Daily Telegraph reports.
They have been in Germany for 18 month and are currently learning German with the Patzelt family as they await a verdict on their asylum application and take part in work placement schemes.
The Patzelts have five grown children and ten grandchildren of their own. One of their sons still lives at home, sharing the top floor of the house with Haben and Awet.
The invitation to the two men came after Patzelt wrote an open letter suggesting that German citizens should open up their home to refugees instead of housing them in migrant hostels.
It comes at a time when hostility towards migrants and refugees is increasing in many parts of the country, with Germany receiving the highest number of asylum applications out of any EU nation.
Earlier this year, the country witnessed the rise of the far-right group Pegida which calls for stricter immigration laws and limits to the country's refugee intake.
But Patzelt believes initiatives like his would go a long way in getting rid of the "polarisation and hostility" some people in Germany feel towards migrants and refugees.
"Partnership, providing shelter, looking after people, welcoming them – these small bridges help to give refugees a face and a name, so that they emerge from the anonymous mass of asylum seekers," he told German ARD TV. "If more people did that... we'd be on a good path."
Italy navy threat as EU debates Mediterranean migrant quotas
16 June
European leaders will discuss introducing quotas on migrants arriving in Europe each year in upcoming talks in Luxembourg, with Italy threatening a "strong response" if no deal can be reached.
One of the key areas of discussion will be how to distribute asylum seekers more evenly between the 28 EU states. Italy, Greece and Malta are experiencing "a large strain on resources", The Independent notes, as the number of arrivals from Africa and the Middle East continues to grow.
Some EU countries, including Germany and Austria, support a deal that would seek to distribute 60,000 asylum seekers across Europe, but others argue that migrants should be able to choose where they settle, rather than being sent to arbitrary countries.
More than 100,000 boat people have landed in Italy and Greece this year. Italy alone has taken in 60,000 new arrivals, mainly from Libya.
The Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, said that if the EU could not come to an agreement on how to handle the growing crisis, Italy would enact a "Plan B", which would "hurt" Europe.
While the details of Renzi's Plan B have not been announced, reports suggest that Italy could prohibit foreign navies from dropping off migrants rescued from international waters in its ports.
Asked whether such reports were true, Italian European Affairs Minister Sandro Gozzi told the BBC that "we are not there yet".
"It is clear that in a possible second phase we will apply international maritime law in all its aspects," he said.
Migrant crisis: UK to play key role in plan to destroy boats
18 May
Britain is set to play a key role in European Union plans to stop people smugglers trafficking migrants across the Mediterranean, and could send warships into Libya's territorial waters.
EU ministers meeting in Brussels today are widely expected to approve a mission to destroy boats used by traffickers to ferry people from war-torn Libya to Europe.
According to The Times, Britain is poised to provide drones and intelligence support and will help establish a military headquarters in Italy to lead armed operations against the people smugglers.
"One of Britain's biggest warships [HMS Bulwark], which is already playing a part in search-and-rescue efforts to save people at risk of drowning on rickety boats, could also be switched into a combat role to help in any push to take on the smuggler networks," says the newspaper.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon are expected to present the measures at the EU meeting today.
But plans to send gunships into Libya's territorial waters must first win legal backing from the UN Security Council, says the BBC. Britain is said to be leading the efforts to obtain the UN's approval for a resolution that reportedly involves limited ground operations as well as high-seas boat seizures.
The Libyan ambassador to the UN has already complained that his country has been left in the dark about the EU's military intentions and wants to know how they will distinguish between fishermen's boats and traffickers' boats.
Amnesty International has also warned that a military operation against traffickers that does not provide safe alternative routes for migrants would mean that many are left trapped in appalling conditions in Libya.
A recent report by the human rights group showed that thousands of foreign nationals, many from Syria and sub-Saharan Africa, face abductions, torture and sexual violence in Libya, often on the basis of their immigration status or religion.
It called on EU governments to increase the number of resettlement places and humanitarian admissions for people in need of international protection.
Migrant boat crisis talks: what options are up for discussion?
23 April
EU leaders are meeting today to decide how to respond to the growing number of migrants risking the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe.
Prime Minister David Cameron is breaking off from the election campaign to attend the emergency summit in Brussels after at least 800 migrants drowned at the weekend in one of the deadliest incidents ever recorded in the Mediterranean.
The 27-year-old Tunisian captain of the boat – Mohammed Ali Malek – has been charged with causing a shipwreck, multiple manslaughter and aiding and abetting trafficking. A 25-year-old Syrian – Mahmud Bikhit – has also been charged with aiding and abetting trafficking.
Prosecutors believe Malek crashed the boat into a larger Portuguese vessel, causing the passengers to panic and rush around. The boat then tipped and sank, with many people allegedly locked below deck.
Experts have warned that up to 30,000 migrants – almost 20 times the number of people who died on the Titanic – could be killed this year if the crisis is not tackled.
Here are some of the proposals due to be discussed today:
Increasing search and rescue
One proposal is to "rapidly reinforce" the Triton and Poseidon search and rescue operations by doubling their financial resources in 2015 and 2016. The UK's Ministry of Defence is said to be "looking at options" to see if British forces might also be sent in to help.
Fighting the traffickers
Italy has called on the EU to fight the "slave traders of the 21st century". General proposals include disrupting trafficking networks, bringing the perpetrators to justice and seizing their assets, with increased intelligence and police co-operation with countries outside of the EU. Europol would also be tasked with detecting and requesting the removal of internet content used by traffickers to lure in migrants and refugees.
Destroying boats
EU leaders are likely to commit to efforts to capture and destroy vessels before they are used by traffickers, although the exact details of how this might work are unclear. The Wall Street Journal suggests this might require people on the ground in Libya, which many EU member states are reluctant about doing.
Preventing illegal migrant flows
Another proposal is to increase support to countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Mali and Niger to help them control their land borders and prevent potential migrants from reaching Mediterranean shores. A new "return programme" would also be set up to return "irregular migrants" to their home countries from Europe.
Stabilising Libya and Syria
The draft proposals for today's meeting, published by the FT, acknowledge that instability in Syria is a key factor behind the increase in migration, while the chaos of Libya has created an "ideal environment for the criminal activities of traffickers". The EU wants to actively support all UN-led efforts towards re-establishing government authority in Libya and to step up efforts to address conflict and instability in Syria.
Resettling migrants
Germany has publicly backed a proposal to spread migrants out more equally among EU countries, with an initial voluntary project to resettle 5,000 migrants who qualify for protection. However, this looks likely to be a divisive proposal. Teams from the European Asylum Support Office would be deployed to "frontline" member states to process asylum applications and take fingerprints from migrants.
Migrant boat disaster: two arrested for human trafficking
21 April
Italian officials have arrested the captain and a crew member travelling on board the migrant boat that sank at the weekend, one of the deadliest migrant disasters in the Mediterranean.
More than 800 people, including many children, died when their vessel capsized 60 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to the United Nations refugee agency. One survivor suggested the number was as high as 950, with up to 50 children and 200 women.
The passengers, from Syria, Eritrea and Somalia, left Tripoli at around 8am on Saturday. Only 28 people were rescued when the boat sank that night.
The Tunisian captain and his Syrian first mate were arrested on suspicion of people trafficking after they arrived in Sicily with other survivors late on Monday.
Prosecutors said hundreds of people had been locked below deck and hundreds more were crammed onto the boat's upper deck. The vessel is believed to have capsized when an attempted rescue by a Portuguese merchant ship caused panic.
A fisherman from Lampedusa helping with the rescue described seeing children's shoes, life jackets and then a "little boy face down in a huge oil slick" that he said "marked the grave" of the drowned victims. "But I could not find even one survivor. Not one," he told The Independent.
EU leaders, who met in Luxembourg for crisis talks yesterday, have set out a ten-point package in an attempt to prevent more tragedy on the Mediterranean.
Measures included a campaign to destroy traffickers' boats and an increase in financial resources for the rescue service Triton, which replaced the larger Mare Nostrum operation last year. Triton's operational area will also be expanded.
Katya Adler, BBC Europe editor, says the proposals are "not new but the sense of EU solidarity and common purpose is" – however even this is unlikely to last long.
"Arguing and wrangling will almost certainly be back on the agenda at an emergency summit of EU leaders this Thursday as they hammer out the details of what to do next," she says.
Even as the talks took place, two rescue missions took place to save 350 people in the Mediterranean.
EU Crisis talks held after 700 migrants drown on way to Italy
April 20
The European Union is facing mounting pressure to stop the Mediterranean turning into a "graveyard" after one of the deadliest refugee drownings between Libya and Europe in years.
A 70ft long boat, said to be carrying as many as 700 people, capsized 60 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa late on Saturday. Only 28 survivors have been rescued.
EU leaders are due to meet in Luxembourg to discuss the crisis, six months after they ended their rescue operation Mare Nostrum, replacing it with a more limited border control operation.
Some members, including Britain, oppose expanding the search-and-rescue operation amid fears that it would encourage more migrants to take the dangerous journey. But Sweden and Malta have said that more needs to be done.
"A tragedy is unfolding in the Mediterranean and, if the EU and the world continue to close their eyes, it will be judged in the harshest terms, as it was judged in the past when it closed its eyes to genocides," said the Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat.
But Italy's prime minister, Matteo Renzi, pointed out that a Portuguese-registered merchant ship had attempted a rescue. Renzi said the real problem was the "new slavery" of traffickers who organised the trips.
"Governments across Europe have expressed dismay at Sunday's huge loss of life," says BBC Europe editor Katya Adler. "But while the EU talks, the Mediterranean is turning into a graveyard."
The number of migrants reaching Italy by sea last year reached more than 170,000, four times higher than the previous year. Around 3,500 are believed to have died on the way.
If the death toll from the weekend's disaster is confirmed it "could be the worst single migrant drowning of the current crisis, and mean 1,600 people will have died attempting to reach Europe by boat in 2015 alone", says The Independent.
The International Organisation for Migration has linked the rise to the "multiple and complex" humanitarian crises near Europe's borders, including the war in Syria and the unrest caused by the political instability in Libya.