Migrants locked out as Europe’s doors slam shut
Germany says it ‘cannot cope’ with crisis
EUROPE was on lockdown last night as states across the continent said they could take no more migrants and slammed their borders shut.
The European Union’s 20-yearold border-free travel zone unravelled soon after Germany brought back passport checks, admitting it could no longer cope with the massive influx.
Other states swiftly f ollowed Germany’s lead and reintroduced controls, as bickering intensified between EU leaders unable to agree on how to handle the crisis.
Austria sent thousands of soldiers to man its borders as the country stepped up checks, while Finland, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the Czech Republic followed suit. Officials in France, Belgium and Poland said they were poised to reintroduce border controls.
Traffic jams more than a dozen miles long formed on Germany’s border with Austria following Angela Merkel’s dramatic U-turn on Sunday night, in which she reversed her decision to throw open the country’s doors to Syrian refugees.
The German chancellor had sought to criticise other states – including Britain – for not taking enough refugees after she announced that her country would no longer deport those fleeing Syria. But she reinstated border controls removed two decades ago – creating the so-called Schengen Area – when Germany was overwhelmed by more than 40,000 migrants arriving over the weekend alone.
Officials in Berlin say they now expect to take more than a million refugees this year, up from the 800,000 that had been forecast.
Germany’s surprise decision was the first time a Schengen state has brought in temporary controls over migratory pressures since Europe’s internal borders were opened in 1995. Under EU rules, the 26 states that have removed border checks may introduce emergency controls for no more than two months ‘ if there is a serious threat to public policy or internal security’. The Schengen Area includes all EU member states except the UK, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. Also part of the zone are non-EU countries Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Dutch police announced they would begin spot border checks, while France said it could be prepared to suspend Schengen. Finland also confirmed it plans to increase monitoring of its bor- ders. Poland’s prime minister Ewa Kopacz said: ‘As soon as I hear there is any kind of threat to Polish borders, controls will be imposed.’
Belgian migration minister Theo Francken warned that his country will have to close its borders i f the German decision results in an influx of refugees.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban was last night preparing to declare a crisis after 5,800 migrants crossed the border from Serbia on Sunday, with a further 7,437 arriving by 2pm yesterday. A razor wire fence along the border was completed yesterday, while new laws criminalising those entering Hungary illegally come into effect today.
Mr Orban said it was necessary to bring in harsh penalties including prison terms for those crossing the border in order to ‘defend Hungary and Europe’ and ‘protect our way of life’.
He added: ‘Hungary is a country with a thousand-year-old Christian culture. We Hungarians don’t want the worldwide movement of people to change Hungary.’
At an emergency summit on migration in Brussels last night, interior ministers from across Europe failed to agree on plans to share responsibility for refugees.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker last week set out proposals for compulsory quotas to redistribute 160,000 refugees across the continent, in order to relieve pressure on ‘front-line’ states such as Italy, Greece and Hungary.
Home Secretary Theresa May said Britain – which has an optout – would not take part.
But she added: ‘Since the Syrian crisis began we have taken more than 5,000 Syrian refugees and asylum seekers and last week announced we would be taking 20,000 Syrian refugees over the course of this Parliament.’
Ukip MEP Nathan Gill said last night: ‘Europe is on lockdown. One by one, EU nations have closed borders in the face of the increasing migrant tide.’
The party’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall said: ‘Schengen is falling apart. It is now barely worth the paper it is written on.’
The Schengen Agreement was signed by Belgium, France, West Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in June 1985, creating a passport-free travel zone a decade later, which more countries later joined.
The area has strict rules that mean police are not allowed to conduct identity checks on those moving between states if this has
‘Protect our way of life’ ‘Europe is now in lockdown’
‘an effect equivalent to border checks’ – unless there are specific ci r c umstances warranting temporary controls.
Previously, France temporarily closed its borders around the 60th anniversary of D-Day in June 2004, and after the July 2005 terror attacks on London for security reasons.
Portugal and Germany have reimposed controls for major sporting events, such as the Fifa World Cup.
The Schengen Agreement is named after the town in Luxembourg where it was signed.
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