SID, Serbia (AP) — The latest as migrants flood into Europe in search of a new life. All times local.
12:35 p.m.
The secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says the sheer scale of the refugee influx to Europe has overwhelmed authorities, and acknowledged more must be done.
During a visit on Tuesday to Greece, the country that has borne the brunt of new arrivals, Elhadj As Sy said the refugee numbers hadn’t been predicted. IFRC figures Tuesday show 600,000 people reached Greece so far this year.
“What we are facing is much more than what was expected,” As Sy said after meeting Greek migration minister Yiannis Mouzalas. “And that’s why everybody is overwhelmed.”
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12:25 p.m.
Chancellor Angela Merkel says that Europe’s refugee crisis won’t be solved at the German-Austrian border and is warning other countries that they shouldn’t assume they won’t be affected.
Merkel renewed her call on Tuesday for a fair distribution of refugees around Europe. Germany has taken by far the most refugees so far, with Sweden and Austria also receiving many, but several other European Union countries have been reluctant to make any significant contribution.
Merkel, who faces pressure at home to reduce the influx, said: “I am firmly convinced that we will not manage this challenge at the German-Austrian border.” She added: “Those in Europe who think today that they are not affected by this will be affected in some way tomorrow, if only through the unity of Europe being questioned.”
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12:20 p.m.
An official says recently-arrived migrants housed at a British army base on Cyprus had set fire to two tents, but that the blaze was put out quickly.
British Bases spokeswoman Connie Pierce said Tuesday the situation is now calm following Monday’s incident. She gave no reason for the fire.
Pierce said there had been “a series of incidents” at the facility, but that authorities won’t “be going into specific detail.”
She said the 114 people, who arrived by boat at a British air base on Cyprus last month, have food, shelter, privacy and communications and that U.N. staff say the facility “exceeds the standard of comparable setups.”
Pierce repeated that the British government won’t allow a new migrant route to open up to the U.K. through its two Cyprus bases.
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12 p.m.
Serbia and Croatia have launched a direct train transfer of migrants from one country to another so asylum seekers no longer have to wait long hours outside in the cold.
Officials say that the first train carrying about 1,000 migrants left Tuesday morning from the Serbian town of Sid toward Slavonski Brod, Croatia, where authorities have set up a winter camp.
The direct train link was agreed last month after thousands of people, most of whom were families with small children, were forced to spent entire nights at a muddy border passage waiting to cross from Serbia to Croatia.
Croatian police say more than 300,000 people have passed through the country since mid-September. Most migrants want to reach wealthy nations of Western Europe, such as Germany or Sweden.
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