EU Immigration Crisis Megathread

[Josquius]

The 1960s? Border controls were only abolished in the 1990s and the border between Hungary and Serbia was supposed to always be closely guarded as Serbia is not part of Schengen.
Temporary limited controls of internal borders is one of the measures allowed and foreseen in the Schengen Agreement.
And I can't think of a single crises where the power of the EU hasn't grown as a result. I predict that this will be the same.

They're not in schengen but they do have bilateral visa free travel (for tourist reasons) with the schengen zone I believe.

[Zanza]

And? They still have that...

[Josquius]

And? They still have that...

Just saying its the reason the border is very relaxed. People are allowed in pretty much at will

[Tamas]

Wow this shitstorm just keeps growing:

The Croatians, deciding on their own, sent a trainload (about a thousand) migrants over the border into Hungary. I mean, the train just went through.

With 40 armed Croatian police officers on board.

The Hungarian authorities have taken over the train, disarmed their Croatian colleagues and arrested the train driver.

Hungary is calling it an "unprecedented border violation"

Wow.

[Tamas]

Reading further, some correspondents are saying the Hungarian authorities were already waiting for the train with buses and there was no incident with the Croatian policemen until they were done loading the migrants to the buses

[Liep]

Poor driver. If Sweden was more like Hungary several of my colleagues would be in jail.

[Richard Hakluyt]

The "ever closer union"    will have to be put on hold.

How does this affect the five hundred million citizens and not the five hundred thousand foreigners this is about? 

I'm not really talking about the legal effects, more how people are feeling. In the long run European Union will take place if the people want and support it, union will not take place simply due to laws being passed. The bad feeling generated by this fiasco is a further setback and comes very shortly after all the bad feelings generated by the financial crises.

[Syt]

"Worried citizens" in Saxony protesting a new facility for refugees.

[Syt]

http://www.unhcr.org/55fc0e386.html

Time running out to resolve refugee emergency in Europe

GENEVA, Sept 18 (UNHCR) – Following yesterday's mayhem on the Serbian border with Croatia, which has closed some entry points, the UN refugee agency today issued a stark warning that time was running out for Europe to resolve the current refugee crisis.

UNHCR blamed the continuing absence of a coherent and united response to Europe's refugee situation as the main reason for the chaos and confusion on the Serbian border with Croatia yesterday and today and the dramatic scenes on Wednesday on the Hungarian border.

"With more than 442,440 refugees and migrants having arrived via the Mediterranean so far this year, some 2,921 deaths, and 4,000 people arriving on the Greek islands daily, the crisis is growing and being pushed from one country to another without solution," UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a press briefing in Geneva.

He added that the suffering and risks for thousands of refugees and migrants were meanwhile increasing as uncertainty and a lack of information fuels desperation, raises the likelihood of further incidents, and stokes hostility towards people who have fled persecution and conflict and are in need of help.

"This environment is fertile ground for people-smugglers and others seeking to prey on this vulnerable population," he declared.

Edwards stressed that against the context of these events UNHCR believed Thursday's decision of the European Parliament to back plans for the relocation of an additional 120,000 people to all countries of the European Union deserved applause.

He said an Extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting called for September 22, and the European Council meeting that has been slated for the following day (September 23) would now be crucially important for coming to agreement. "These occasions may be the last opportunity for a positive, united and coherent European response to this crisis. Time is running out," Edwards noted.

UNHCR recognizes that Europe is struggling to deal with this situation, and commends the countries and their citizens that have shown willingness to resettle refugees and respond positively to a situation which although challenging is manageable, provided that Europe is united in contributing to an effective response.

UNHCR itself this week proposed a number of measures towards the wider goal of helping Europe to collectively resolve this situation, namely:

- immediate creation of facilities in Greece to receive, assist, register and screen people arriving

- immediate start of a process, from Greece and from existing centres in Italy, for the relocation of 40,000 refugees agreed to by the Council to participating EU countries. This should be expanded by additional voluntary pledges by EU states against the new proposals of the European Commission

- an emergency package from the EU to Serbia to establish a similar capacity to properly assist, register and relocate people to other European countries

- in parallel, UNHCR urges that there be a substantial increase in opportunities for Syrian refugees hosted in neighbouring countries to Syria to access legal channels to the EU including enhanced resettlement and humanitarian admission, family reunification and humanitarian and student visas.

[Tamas]

Both Croatia and the Hungarian police deny actual disarming of Croaian police took place. So it's just the hungarian government saying that. For some reason they still want more chaos and escalation. I am starting to think they might be building up their exit from EU.

Croatian PM did welcome the policemen and train drivers as heroes though.

And Hungary is mobilising (volunteer) army reservists

[mongers]

Both Croatia and the Hungarian police deny actual disarming of Croaian police took place. So it's just the hungarian government saying that. For some reason they still want more chaos and escalation. I am starting to think they might be building up their exit from EU.

Croatian PM did welcome the policemen and train drivers as heroes though.

And Hungary is mobilising (volunteer) army reservists

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Tamas why don't you apply for UK citizenship, start hiding your Hungarian nationality, until they elect some sensible politicians?

[Tamas]

I will never deny my heritage, especially not because of a retard government.

[Tamas]

Besides I don't like you shit-talking my old country mongers :p

[Legbiter]

"Worried citizens" in Saxony protesting a new facility for refugees.

Yes, they look like the socioeconomic group who'll bear the brunt of the "cultural enrichment" a million uneducated Sunni Muslim males will bring to Germany. Merkel has no skin in the game, she'll never have to share a zip code with them.

[mongers]

I will never deny my heritage, especially not because of a retard government.

And if refugees and migrants say that?