European Leaders Commit To More Shelter For Refugees

European Union leaders have always been concerned about how to manage the mass flow of people through the region but have failed to develop a coordinated response to the refugee crisis.

It is mentioned as one of the most important points that Greece has to increase reception capacity to 30,000 places by the end of the year, and to support UNHCR to provide rent subsidies and host family programs for at least 20,000 more.

Earlier, in a statement to paper over the deep divisions about how to handle the crisis, the leaders committed to bolster the borders of Greece as it struggles to cope with the wave of refugees from Syria and beyond that cross over through Turkey.

Since Oct. 17, more than 62,000 migrants have arrived in Slovenia, with a few 14,000 passing through the country on October 25.

Faced with a huge influx heading north, Hungary has closed off its borders with Serbia and Croatia.

Europe will not solve the problem on its own and it needs Turkey to help control the flow of refugees, too, Tsipras said. “Greece has seen a record 48,000 people land on its shores over the last five days”.

“We will not be able to endure this for weeks if we do not get help”, said Mr Cerar, arriving for the summit.

“Croatia has kept the border open for more than two days, which is good to avoid a bottleneck”, she said.

The migration crisis is at the top of the agenda for an emergency meeting of Europe’s leaders.

Greece, criticized for being ill-prepared as a first European Union buffer against the migrants, decried the lack of European Union solidarity.

In an interview published on Sunday by the German newspaper Bild, Juncker urged countries to stop handing over refugees to neighbouring states in chaotic conditions.

Meanwhile, the migrants continue to head west, many aiming for safety in Germany, which has said it is expecting 800,000 asylum seekers by the end of the year.

He said: “I am asking myself ‘Why do they close the doors in front of us, especially the educated people who studied their language in other countries?'” The boat carried 63 migrants at the time and 53 of the passengers were rescued.

Based on information from other passengers, another seven are missing, it said.

In a 16-point plan seen by Reuters, leaders will try to balance their approach, likely agreeing to send 400 border guards to the western Balkan border if the EU’s frontier states drop their policy of giving arrivals passage to other countries.

“Today, we’re drowning”, the area’s police spokesman Frank Koller told the DPA news agency.

Police say an Afghan man was identified as the instigator and was taken into custody after he was treated for injuries. Others were displaced by the air strikes and fighting in Hama and Homs.

Almost 250,000 migrants have passed through the Balkans since mid-September and the surge is not being deterred by either cold weather or colder waters off Greece. He insisted Serbia is not afraid of its “responsibility” and will not “put up any walls”.

In exchange for the wide range of measures agreed last night, countries promised to “discourage the movement of refugees or migrants to the border of another country”.