Page 9 - ATD19September2015
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WORLD NEWS 9
Saturday 19 September
Europeans shut borders, block bridges, to halt migrant surge
Migrants crowd to board a train at the station in Tovarnik, this high-stakes game the reception of these dis- gen treaty, which allows
Croatia, Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. Croatia declared it was of hot potato were the placed persons.” people to travel freely be-
overwhelmed and began busing migrants in convoys masses of miserable men, Most migrants don’t want tween 26 European coun-
back to Hungary and closing its border crossings with Ser- women and children who to stay in Croatia — only tries without showing their
bia. have found their way to one woman with children passports. Slovenia and
the wealthier European na- has requested asylum, the Hungary are treaty mem-
(AP Photo/Petr David Josek) tions they wish to settle in country’s foreign minister bers and say they are pro-
blocked at every turn. said. Instead, they are try- tecting Europe’s borders.
“We are seeing the result ing to reach Western Euro- Events in the Balkans have
of haphazard policies,” pean countries like Germa- underscored the failures of
said Maurizio Albahari, a ny that have said they are the EU’s common asylum
social anthropologist at the welcome. policy, which calls for a
University of Notre Dame While Croatia is happy to “joint approach to guaran-
and author of “Crimes of let people pass through, tee high standards of pro-
Peace: Mediterranean Hungary and Slovenia say tection for refugees.”
Migrations at the World’s allowing the migrants to Though the EU says “asy-
Deadliest Border.” cross their borders would vi- lum must not be a lottery,”
“The situation is largely olate European Union rules. scenes from Croatia on Fri-
due to the lack of a coor- Croatia is part of the EU but day showed it isn’t working
dinated approach toward not a party to the Schen- out that way.q
DANICA KIRKA ister Zoran Milanovic de-
D. STOJANOVIC clared that his nation of
Associated Press 4.2 million could no longer
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — cope and the asylum-seek-
Thousands of migrants were ers could not stay.
trapped Friday in a vicious “What else can we do?”
tug-of-war as bickering Eu- Milanovic said at a news
ropean governments shut conference. “You are wel-
border crossings, blocked come in Croatia and you
bridges and erected new can pass through Croatia.
barbed-wire fences in a But go on. Not because we
bid to stem the wave of hu- don’t like you, but because
manity fleeing conflict and this is not your final destina-
poverty in the Middle East tion.”
and Africa. “Croatia has shown it has
Asylum-seekers who fled a heart,” he said. “We also
westward after being beat- need to show we have a
en back by tear gas and brain.”
water cannon on the Hun- Across eastern Europe,
garian-Serbian border just barriers to the migrants’
days earlier found them- passage were thrown up
selves being returned to as nations tried to shift the
Serbia, where their ordeal burden of handling the in-
began, after Croatia de- flux onto their neighbors,
clared it could not handle leaving asylum-seekers
the influx. ever more desperate and
The EU’s failure to find a uni- confused.
fied response to the crisis Croatia declared itself
left this tiny Balkan nation, overwhelmed and began
one of the poorest in the busing migrants to Hun-
European Union, squeezed gary and closing its border
between the blockades crossings with Serbia. Slo-
thrown up by Hungary and venia halted rail service to
Slovenia and the unend- Croatia and was sending
ing flood of people flowing migrants back there, while
north from Syria, Iraq and Hungary began building
Afghanistan. yet another razor-wire bor-
With more than 17,089 mi- der fence, this time on its
grants arriving in just three border with Croatia.
days, Croatian Prime Min- Caught in the middle of
