Transit states helpless in the face of mass migration

The closing of the Hungarian border with Serbia on 15 September resulted in the diversion of the flow of migrants, who have mainly been heading via the Balkans to Germany. The migrants started to head en masse for Croatia, from where they are proceeding to Austria, mainly via Hungary. The closure of the Serbian-Hungarian border has not significantly reduced the number of people trying to get into Europe via the Western Balkans. According to the Macedonian police, at least two thousand migrants a day are still arriving in the country from Greece. None of the countries in the region has been able to halt the wave of migration, and so they have been trying to quickly transfer the groups of migrants through to neighbouring countries, a move which, combined with attempts to block the flow of migrants, has raised numerous tensions in the region and led to mutual recriminations about the escalation of the crisis. In connection with the continuing wave of migrants, further congestion at the borders can be expected, which could easily degenerate into clashes with the police and lead to a humanitarian disaster in the overcrowded camps.

• Primary Source

ESO: Information Guide: European Migration Challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/information-guide-european-migration-challenges/

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