Europe’s migrant crisis: Roundup, September 21
Poland’s Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna said Europe needs a united plan to address the ongoing refugee crisis, but not one that imposes quotas for individual countries stating how many people they should admit.
In an opinion piece published Monday by the newspaper Politico Europe, Schetyna said the first priority for the European Union is sealing its borders, and that the bloc should set up refugee reception centers to identify those who are refugees and those who are economic migrants, the Voice of America reports.
* Thousands more migrants entered Austria over the weekend as European leaders are set to push for a unified response to the crisis.
Austrian authorities are expecting more arrivals from Hungary on Monday, the BBC said on September 21.
* Nearly 11 000 migrants walked into Austria on Sunday adding to the 10 500 who had made the same journey the day before, euronews said on September 21.
Aid agencies and the Red Cross were on hand to provide food, drink and medical help.
* At least 13 people died Sunday when a boat carrying dozens of immigrants to Greece was wrecked in Turkish waters, a source from Turkish coastguard said. Six of the victims were children, according to the source.
The migrant boat collided with a ferry at night, Turkish media reported, according to Deutsche Welle.
* Starting from midnight last night the only crossing on the border between Croatia and Serbia, Batrovci-Bajakovo, has been closed for freight traffic, Serbian news website B92 said on September 21.
Croatian authorities have stopped the entrance to that country. A 10-kilometer long line of trucks has formed on the Serbian side.
Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic has described the move as “unfair and not contributing to good-neighborly relations.”
