“And these are not changes for the better”, he said.
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“The gap between pledges and what is on the table must be reduced otherwise we are losing all kinds of credibility”, the Commission president said during a report to the European Parliament on measures the EU is taking to stem and control an inflow of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and others.
He urged member states to deliver on commitments made – including producing extra money – claiming they were “moving slowly when they should be running”.
Referring to the 17-point plan of action on the Western Balkans route, he said that there was also a consensus about a clear distinction between refugees and migrants, noting that “there are people in need of protection – those that are considered refugees”.
“They have a right to seek asylum without any form of discrimination”, said United Nations aid chief Stephen O’Brien, warning the worsening crisis in Syria meant a few 13.5 million people were now in need of assistance.
Save the Children is also calling for the creation of well-managed safe and legal routes for refugees and migrants, being particularly concerned about approximately 12,000 unaccompanied children who have landed on European shores this year alone.
The plan includes Greece providing shelter for an additional 30,000 refugees before the end of the year, plus another 20,000 with help from global organizations.
In the whole of 2014 the number of people arriving was 219,000.
Croatia said 11,500 people crossed into the country, the highest in a single day since asylum-seekers were blocked by Hungary and started coming into Croatia in mid-September.
“The operation will only be effective when we can work close to the (smuggler) networks, go after the big fish not the little ones who go out to sea”, Rear Admiral Herve Blejean said in Rome.
Most migrants are heading for western Europe and particularly Germany, and on Tuesday officials said a group were locked in a standoff with Swedish authorities, saying the village where they have been taken is “too cold” and isolated. “It has the potential even to destroy achievements such as border-free travel between Schengen countries”.
Hungary closed its border with Croatia on 16 October, forcing refugees to take a new route toward Austria and Germany by passing through Slovenia.
Tiny Slovenia, which has a population of just two million, reiterated its warning that it is also considering building a fence if the newly announced European Union plans aimed at tackling the crisis fail to produce quick results.
Talking about last Sunday’s EU-Balkans mini-summit, he remarked that Europe cannot be built by having the member states fighting one another, but by cooperating with each other and asked to step up their cooperation.
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Migrants wait on the bridge at the Austrian-German border between Braunau and Simbach at lake Inn near Passau, Germany, yesterday.
