Germany temporarily reinstates border control amid refugee crisis

Germany announced border controls on Sunday that slowed a rush of people over its border, relieving pressure on officials who have struggled to cope with the influx.

Chancellor Angela Merkel s spokesman said Monday that Germany is not slamming its doors shut to refugees but that the drastic measure was needed to bring some order to the asylum process. For days, migrants arrived in Austria faster than they could enter Germany and their numbers grew.

The main goal for now is to ensure that interior passages in the station remain open including access to platforms and that trains are boarded in an orderly and safe manner they said.

Rolling hills give way to fog-shrouded Alpine peaks at the latest German migrant flashpoint, with war-scarred refugees unbowed by Berlin’s shock decision to impose border checks.

SALZBURG, Austria, Sept 16 Roughly 700 asylum seekers who set off from Salzburg earlier in the day have now crossed into Germany and another 700 are expected to follow, a German police spokesman said on Wednesday.

“The temporary reintroduction of border controls between Member States is an exceptional possibility explicitly foreseen in and regulated by the Schengen Borders Code, in case of a crisis situation”, said a Commission statement. The European Commission said via the AP, that this crisis “appears to be a situation covered by the rules”.

“The situation was much more tense this morning”.

According to German newspaper “Passauer Neue Presse”, the German Government also stopped the train to and from Austria.

Asylum-seekers must understand “they can not choose the states where they are seeking protection”, he told reporters.

In the past week, tens of thousands of refugees had taken the so-called Balkan route and arrived in Germany via Austria, especially with trains to Munich, the first stop in Germany for most refugees.

Meanwhile, the flow of migrants into Hungary hit another record on September 12 after a total of 4,330 migrants walked across the border with Serbia.

“If these border controls go on for several weeks, or even longer, the sector would have to discuss a possible adjustment in prices with their clients”, it added.

Ahead of the meeting, the United Nations refugee agency warned that the European Union must avoid fragmenting into a patchwork of countries with different border rules, which would create a “legal limbo” for thousands of refugees.