Germany braces up for fresh influx of refugees
22 Sept 2015 4:03 AM IST
Germany is bracing for a fresh influx of war refugees as thousands crossed into neighbouring Austria on Sunday after four days of a bitter dispute between Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia over who should take responsibility for the wave of asylum-seekers pouring into Europe.
More than 10,000 refugees entered the Austrian border town of Heiligenkreuz from the Hungarian side till midnight, media reports said quoting local police officials.
The asylum-seekers, mostly from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, were brought to the Hungarian side of the border in several buses earlier in the day after Croatia sent them to its border with Hungary saying it can no longer manage them. Thousands of refugees heading to central and northern Europe through the Balkans route have been entering Croatia from Serbia since Hungary on Wednesday sealed its border with Serbia and passed tough laws on migrants entering the country.
Croatia had welcomed the refugees when they began to arrive, but changed its mind after their number soared to more than 20,000 and transported many of them to the Hungarian border, triggering a major row between the two EU partners.
As the refugees tried to reach Austria through neighbouring Slovenia, they were sent back to Croatia on Friday and train services between the two nations were suspended.
At the border crossing between Croatia and Slovenia, police used pepper spray against a group of refugees, who protested against the closure of the only route to reach Austria, according to the reports.
Meanwhile, Austrian authorities said many more refugees are waiting on the Hungarian side to enter the country and a growing number of them are passing through its border with Slovenia.
They estimated that more than 150 people have crossed into the country from Slovenia till last evening.
The number of refugees entering Germany from Austria slowed down since the country reintroduced border controls with Austria on September 13 and suspended train services between the two countries.
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