The latest Thursday on the European migrant crisis (all times GMT):
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2135 GMT
Italy's
coast guard says it is searching the waters off Libya for as many as
two dozen people who are unaccounted for after a rubber dinghy partially
deflated.
The
coast guard said it rescued 91 migrants and recovered one corpse after
receiving a distress call Thursday. Survivors reported they set off from
Libya with 115 aboard. If that figure is accurate, 23 people remain
unaccounted for.
Some
2,500 would-be refugees are believed to have died making the perilous
crossing from lawless Libya to Europe this year alone, the U.N. refugee
agency says.
Despite
the tragedy, the coast guard reported some good news Thursday: A
migrant aboard a coast guard cutter from Lampedusa gave birth to a baby
boy. Mother and baby are doing well and will be taken to the hospital
once the ship docks in Lampedusa, the coast guard said.
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2125 GMT
White
House spokesman Josh Earnest says the haunting photographs of a
3-year-old refugee washed up on a Turkish shore are a stark reminder of
the widespread toll that violence in the Middle East and North Africa
has taken on innocent people.
Earnest
says he has not yet spoken to President Barack Obama about the
photographs, but he's confident the president has seen them.
"Obviously,
there are significant forces that right now are carrying out heinous
acts of violence and it's having a destabilizing impact on the region
and it's disrupting the lives of millions of people, and it's a genuine
tragedy," Earnest said.
He
said there are obviously some refugees from the Gulf region coming to
the United States, but he wasn't aware of any pending policy changes
that would allow more.
"There is certainly capacity in Europe to deal with this problem," Earnest said.
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1855 GMT
Canada has denied it received a refugee application for the Syrian family that drowned off Europe.
Citizenship
and Immigration Canada said Thursday that it received no refugee
application from the father of two drowned Syrian boys who have put a
devastating human face to the Syrian refugee crisis.
It
did, however, receive an application for Abdullah Kurdi's brother,
Mohammed, but said it was incomplete and didn't meet regulatory
requirements for proof of refugee status recognition.
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1810 GMT
The
United Nations says municipal authorities in Budapest haven't accepted
the U.N. refugee agency's offers of help with the growing crisis there.
The
spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, told
reporters that "obviously, the U.N. works at the request and with full
cooperation of host governments."
An
estimated 3,000 migrants have been camping outside a Budapest train
station, hoping to leave for other European destinations. Conditions at
the terminal have grown increasingly squalid despite the efforts of
volunteers distributing water, food, medicine and disinfectants.
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1740 GMT
The
grieving aunt of the 3-year-old Syrian boy whose lifeless body has put a
devastating human face on the Syrian refugee crisis says the father of
the boy, her brother, said to her, 'My kids have to be the wake-up call
to the whole world.'"
The
picture of Aylan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkish beach has been seen
around the world, highlighting the plight of desperate migrants risking
their lives to try to reach Europe.
Aunt
Tima Kurdi, speaking outside her home in Vancouver, said she holds
herself responsible for sending money used to pay refugee smugglers.
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1715 GMT
A
moment of silence will be observed before Italy's European Championship
qualifier against Malta for the European migrant crisis.
Italian
soccer federation president Carlo Tavecchio says he asked and received
permission from UEFA President Michel Platini for the observation at the
match Thursday night in Florence.
The two Mediterranean countries have been struggling to deal with the migrant crisis.
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1710 GMT
A
Canadian legislator says personally lobbied Canada's immigration
minister to get refugee status for the Syrian family whose mother and
two young sons drowned off Turkey.
The photo of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, who washed up Wednesday on a beach, has galvanized a worldwide debate about migration.
Opposition
legislator Fin Donnelly said Thursday it's not normal for him to
intervene personally with the minister but said the family's case was so
compelling.
Donnelly
tells The Associated Press "I think this is going to be a symbol for
what's needed. Unfortunately for this family it's too late."
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1655 GMT
Conditions
have grown increasingly squalid around Budapest's Keleti train station,
where an estimated 3,000 migrants have camped for days as Hungarian
authorities flip-flop over whether to let them get on trains heading to
Austria and Germany.
Volunteers
have been distributing water, food, medicine and disinfectants. But an
AP reporter saw one infant boy beside his sleeping parents crawl onto
the pavement Thursday to eat breadcrumbs from the floor.
Nearby, an unattended toddler walked to a pile of garbage, picking at discarded wrappers in search of candy.
___
1640 GMT
Austrian
Chancellor Werner Faymann's office says he will summon Hungary's
ambassador to Vienna on Friday amid bilateral tensions over the way
Hungary is dealing with the inflow of migrants to Austria.
Faymann's
office says "the Geneva Human Rights Convention has to be respected by
all states of the EU." That indicates Faymann will complain about the
treatment of migrants in Hungary, most of whom are desperately trying to
move from Hungary to neighboring Austria and onto Germany.
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1615 GMT
The
uncle of the three-year-old Syrian boy whose lifeless body has put a
devastating human face on the Syrian refugee crisis has assailed
Canada's refugee process.
Rocco
Logozzo told The Canadian Press that the system is designed to fail. He
says his family had plenty of money and room to house Aylan Kurdi, 3,
and his brother and parents at his home in Coquitlam, British Columbia.
Instead,
the family says Canada rejected their refugee application in June.
Logozzo says the family lost hope and made the "bad" choice to get on a
boat to Europe, where the two boys and their mother drowned this week
off the Turkish coast.
Logozzo
says the boys' father, Abdullah, told his sister that he put
lifejackets on both boys but they somehow slipped off when the boat
flipped over.
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1550 GMT
A Syrian father is distraught after the deaths of his wife and two young sons in the seas off Turkey.
The
picture of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkish beach has
been seen around the world, highlighting the plight of desperate
migrants risking their lives to try to reach Europe.
Abdullah
Kurdi, his father, said the family was on an overcrowded boat heading
from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos when the boat's captain panicked
due to high waves and jumped into the sea. He said the waves were so
high the small boat flipped and his wife Rehan and two sons — Aylan 3,
and Galip, 5 —drowned.
He
says "my kids were the most beautiful children in the world, wonderful.
They wake me up every morning to play with them. They are all gone
now."
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1520 GMT
All
international trains from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland are
no longer traveling to Budapest due to the large number of migrants at
the Hungarian capital's main Keleti train station.
Trains
will instead end at the Hungarian border town of Szob, according to
statements Thursday by the Czech and Polish railways. Polish railways
says any traveler inconvenienced by the change can return their tickets.
An
estimated 3,000 migrants have camped out for days around Keleti in
downtown Budapest. Conditions have grown increasingly squalid despite
the efforts of volunteers distributing water, food, medicine and
disinfectants. A migrant uproar ensued early Thursday at Keleti when
Hungarian authorities halted trains going to the west.
___
1510 GMT
At
the Hungarian town of Bicske, migrants were shocked to find out that
their train was not heading to Austria but to a Hungarian migrant camp.
Scores of police in riot gear were there to greet them.
The
migrants started chanting "No camp!" in Arabic. Some tried to flee on
foot. One family sat down beside the tracks and appealed to journalists
for help.
When
police told the media to move away, the husband in apparent desperation
threw his wife and infant onto the tracks. Laying beside them, he
started shouting, "We won't move from here!"
Police
in helmets and body armor surrounded the prone family and detained the
man. The woman and infant were escorted off the tracks.
Other
migrants scuffled with police and forced their way back onto the train,
where an hours-long standoff in the sweltering sun began.
___
1440 GMT
Greece does not see an end to the flood of refugees and migrants anytime soon.
Alternate
Interior Minister Antonis Makrydimitris said Thursday that in July
2014, Greece saw 2,103 migrants arrive, compared to 45,000 in July this
year.
He says this flow of migrants is expected to continue in September and October "until conditions change."
He
said the vast majority of migrants were reaching five eastern Greek
islands: with Lesbos seeing 50 percent of arrivals, followed by Kos with
28 percent. The other hard-hit islands were Chios, Samos and Leros.
___
1430 GMT
French
President Francois Hollande says he and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel are proposing a series of measures to deal with Europe's migrant
crisis.
Hollande
says it would include a "permanent and obligatory mechanism" by which
refugees, "notably Syrian," would be distributed among the EU's 28
nations.
The
proposals are to be submitted to a meeting of European interior
ministers on Sept. 14. This was the first time that Hollande spoke of
creating an "obligatory mechanism" to handle the migrant crisis.
___
1415 GMT
News
that that Canada rejected the application of a Syrian family whose
mother and two young sons drowned trying to get to Europe has had an
immediate impact on Canada's election campaign.
Opposition
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's
Conservative government has ignored the pleas to accept more refugees
and said news that Canada's immigration minister is looking into the
Syrian case comes too little too late.
Trudeau
says "you don't get to suddenly discover compassion in the middle of an
election campaign. You either have it or you don't."
Trudeau called on Canada to immediately accept 25,000 Syrian refugees.
The Canadian election is Oct. 19.
___
1405 GMT
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Western nations of
indifference to the plight of refugees, saying they shared the blame for
the deaths of migrants off the coast of Turkey.
Erdogan
spoke Thursday, a day after 12 migrants drowned while trying to reach a
Greek island from Turkey. He said: "It's not just refugees who drown in
the Mediterranean, it's humanity, humanity!"
He
said Turkey was hosting close to 2 million refugees, in contrast to
about 200,000 in total being hosted by "many times more" prosperous
Western countries.
___
1350 GMT
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel has renewed her call for binding quotas to
spread out tens of thousands of migrants among the European Union's 28
countries.
During
a visit to Switzerland, Merkel said she discussed the issue with French
President Francois Hollande on Thursday morning. She said they agree
that "for those who need protection ... we need binding quotas within
the European Union to share the task."
She
stressed that a country's size and economic strength will be taken into
account "but otherwise we will not cope with this question."
Germany has taken in more migrants than any other European Union country. It expects 800,000 new arrivals this year.
___
1340 GMT
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel says the refugee influx "is a problem that
concerns us all in Europe" and says her country is doing what is morally
necessary.
Merkel
was asked Thursday during a visit to Switzerland whether she shared the
Hungarian prime minister's opinion that the influx is Germany's
problem.
Merkel
said: "Germany is doing what is morally and legally necessary, no more
and no less." She said Hungary is right to say that the EU's borders
have to be better protected and migrants registered "that's not the end
of it."
She added: "There's also an obligation to give protection to those who deserve protection. And the Geneva Convention on refugees applies not just in Germany, but in every European member."
___
1325 GMT
Greece's
caretaker government says its coast guard has been rescuing hundreds of
migrants from the sea every day — sometimes over 1,000 in one day —
despite a severe scarcity of resources.
Alternate
Economy Minister Christos Zois said Thursday that 36 percent of the
Greek coast guard's 240 vessels were not operational, as were four of
its seven aircraft. Only one of its six helicopters is able to fly.
Greece
has been in the grip of a deep financial crisis for the past five years
that has wiped out a quarter of its economy. Successive governments
have imposed spending cuts across the board, leaving many state services
struggling.
__
1315 GMT:
Financially strapped Greece says it needs more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to deal with the current migrant crisis.
The
estimate was given Thursday by the country's caretaker economy
minister, Nikos Christodoulakis. Greece says it has seen over 230,000
migrants enter the country this year, most coming by sea to its eastern
islands.
He said for now Greece is completing procedures to get money from nine different European funds.
___
1300 GMT
Canadian
Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says the tragic photo of young
Aylan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Syrian boy who drowned off the coast of Turkey
along with his mother and brother "broke hearts around the world."
The boy's aunt in Vancouver had applied to sponsor the family, but the application was rejected by Canadian authorities.
Alexander
says "Like all Canadians, I was deeply saddened by that image and of
the many other images of the plight of the Syrian and Iraqi migrants
fleeing persecution at the hands of ISIS."
He
said Canada has one of the most generous per capita immigration and
refugee resettlement programs in the world, and was planning to accept
23,000 Iraqis refugees and 11,300 Syrians.
___
1245 GMT
Canada's
immigration minister is suspending his re-election campaign to travel
to Ottawa and look into why the Canada government rejected a request to
take in the Syrian family whose mother and two young sons drowned this
week trying to get to Europe.
A senior government official said Chris Alexander's priority "is to ascertain the facts of the case."
The photo of a 3-year-old boy who washed up on a beach in Turkey has galvanized a worldwide debate about migration.
A
Canadian legislator says he had submitted a request on behalf on the
boys' aunt, who had wanted to bring the family to Canada, but was turned
down by Canadian immigration officials.
___
1235 GMT
A
senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is rejecting the
Hungarian prime minister's assertion that the migrant influx is a German
problem.
Prime
Minister Viktor Orban said the problem is Germany's because so many
migrants want to go there. But in Berlin, Volker Kauder, the
parliamentary caucus leader of Merkel's conservative bloc, noted that
European Union rules say migrants are supposed to be registered in the
first EU country where they arrive — and then stay there.
Kauder
says "where people want to go is one thing, but they are registered and
they are supposed to stay where they arrive in a safe country in
Europe."
___
1200 GMT
Scuffles have broken out at the train station in the Hungarian town of Bicske between migrants and police in riot gear.
Several
hundred migrants excitedly packed into Thursday's first train leaving
the Budapest train station, hoping to reach Austria. But when the train
stopped on a police-packed platform at Bicske, which hosts a major
refugee camp, disappointed migrants started chanting "No camp!" and
refused to leave the train as police ordered.
Several
hundred migrants have remained on or beside the idling train at Bicske
for hours. Police have distributed water, but many migrants have refused
it or thrown it back, fearing it could contain sedatives.
In
Budapest, thousands of migrants remain camped out at Keleti, the main
train station. Few agreed to board another train to northwest Hungary,
fearing they too will run into another wall of police.
end quote from:
| New York Times | - |
The
latest Thursday on the European migrant crisis (all times GMT): ___.
2125 GMT. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the haunting
photographs of a 3-year-old refugee washed up on a Turkish shore are a
stark reminder of the widespread toll that ...
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