Migrant crisis: Croatia closes border crossings with Serbia

Croatia says that seven of its eight borders with Serbia have been blocked.

Croatia has given warning that it will close all border crossings in a bid to bar refugees from entering after about 13,000 crossed into the country in the last three days.

“We can not register and accommodate these people any longer”, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said.

Meanwhile, Slovenia – the next country on the migrant route to Western Europe – has been returning migrants to Croatia and has stopped all rail traffic between the two countries.

Croatia’s statement amounted to a policy reversal a day after leaders promised to welcome refugees, a position in marked contrast to that of Hungary.

Croatia also put its army on alert to deal with the more than 11,000 migrants who have entered from Serbia since September 16, the ministry said.

According to RTS, there is not enough water and food there for the refugees who spent the night in the open or in small tents.

In the town of Tovarnik, the main entry point from Serbia, large crowds of migrants gathered at the train station waiting to be taken to refugee centers for registration.

The Croatian police are collecting them along the so-called green border and taking them to the town of Tovarnik.

Thousands of people were pouring into Croatia on Thursday, turning it into the latest hotspot in the 1600-kilometre plus exodus toward Western Europe after Hungary used tear gas, batons and water cannons to keep refugees out.

(Vatican Radio) Thousands of Syrian and other refugees have been dumped by Croatian authorities near the Hungarian border. Hungary’s government has taken a hard stance toward the issue, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban complaining in a recent interview there would eventually be “more Muslims than Christians in Europe”.

Hungary said 20 police officers were injured as people tried to break through a gate with razor-wire, and a spokesman accused migrants of using children as “human shields”.

Amid deepening divisions in the EU over how to cope with the migrant crisis, European Council President Donald Tusk of Poland has called an emergency summit for 23 September. Hungary is expected to extend its barrier so it blocks access from Romania, as well as from Serbia.

He said this showed that this was no longer simply an immigration problem, but “threat, danger and terrorism”.

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon condemned the Hungarian border police on Thursday, describing their actions as “not acceptable”.