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( …) “It was a
scene that once again underscored the inability of European
governments to comprehend and prepare for the continent’s biggest
wave of mass migration since the second world war. On Wednesday,
Croatia’s prime minister, Zoran Milanović, had optimistically
declared the country was “ready to accept and direct those people”.
But by Thursday, his government had discovered that this crisis is
beyond what any single country can deal with on an unplanned,
unilateral basis – even with the best of intentions.
Less than 24 hours
after Milanović’s charitable declaration, interior minister Ranko
Ostrojić backtracked. “Croatia will not be able to receive more
people,” Ostrojić said, claiming that an earlier promise to create
a human corridor to Slovenia was in fact only a pledge to provide a
much shorter passage to Zagreb, the Croatian capital.”
GUARDIAN / “Croatia
overwhelmed by volume of refugees crossing from Serbia”
In
Croatia, Migrants Are Welcome Until They’re Not
BY SIOBHÁN
O'GRADY / SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 - 2:42 PM / http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/09/17/in-croatia-migrants-are-welcome-until-theyre-not/
Just one day after
Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said migrants stuck in Serbia
would be welcome in Croatia, his interior minister is walking back on
the offer. It comes on the heels of close to 9,000 flooding into the
newest EU member state since Wednesday morning.
“Croatia will not
be able to receive any more people,” Interior Minister Ranko
Ostojic told reporters in a Zagreb suburb on Thursday. Calling the
country “completely full,” he added that “if you want to save
your life, please go to reception centers in Serbia, or Macedonia or
Greece.”
Ostojic’s
announcement came as European Council President Donald Tusk called
for an emergency summit will be held next Wednesday to discuss the
worsening migration crisis.
Migrants and
asylum-seekers fled to Croatia on Tuesday and Wednesday after
Hungarian authorities sealed the border between Hungary and Serbia.
That blocked the easiest route to Germany, where many hope to to
apply for asylum.
The United Nations
sharply criticized Hungary for its aggressive response to migrants
who broke through border fences Wednesday. The U.N.’s top human
rights official said Hungary’s use of tear gas and water cannons,
as well as their decision to arrest refugees, “amount to clear
violations of international law.”
But as Croatia has
grown increasingly alarmed at the number of people crossing in from
Serbia, Zagreb also has upped police in border towns. Additionally,
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović reportedly asked the
army to prepare to defend Croatia from the “illegal migration.”
Many passing through
Croatia would prefer to move onward to Slovenia and then Germany. But
even Berlin, which has offered to accept the most number of migrants
across the EU, seems to have overestimated its ability to efficiently
accommodate everyone as hoped.
On Thursday, citing
“personal reasons,” German Migration Minister Manfred Schmidt
resigned under pressure from representatives of all 16 German federal
states, which accused him of grossly underestimating the number of
expected migrants and, in turn, failing to provide appropriate
resources for their arrival. The German migration office reportedly
has a backlog of more than 250,000 asylum applications, some filed as
far back as a year ago, and expects to receive 1 million more this
year.
At the beginning of
this year, Germany’s migration office had 300 staff. Today it has
600, and an estimated 400 additional staff members are expected to be
hired to help handle the influx of applications.
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