UN sees no end to Europe’s flow of refugees

Refugees wait in a bus, which will transfer them to Hungary from the town of Tovarnik in Croatia on September 25, 2015. Antonio Bat/EPA

GENEVA // The United Nations expects no let-up in the flow of refugees coming into Europe – with 8,000 people arriving every day – and that the problems facing governments may only be “the tip of the iceberg”.

Amin Awad, regional refugee coordinator for the UN’s refugee agency, said on Friday that the body’s past warnings on the scale of the problem had not been taken seriously.

“I don’t see it abating, I don’t see it stopping. If anything, it gives an indication perhaps that this is the tip of the iceberg.”

Dominik Bartsch, the UN’s deputy humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said 10 million people were expected to need humanitarian support by year end in that country, where 3.2 million were already displaced.

He said that the UN was planning for the displacement of 500,000 people from Mosul if Baghdad launched an attempt to recapture the city from ISIL.

Meanwhile, Germany said on Friday it estimated that 30 per cent of refugee arrivals claiming to be Syrian citizens were in fact from other countries.

“It’s an estimate based on the observations of officials on the ground, especially the federal police, the office for migration and refugees and [EU border protection agency] Frontex,” said a German interior ministry spokesman.

He stressed that Germany kept no official statistics on asylum seekers believed to be misstating their nationality.

Syrians make up the largest single group among the thousands of asylum seekers who have arrived in Germany since January. The country now expects between 800,000 and one million arrivals by year end.

Numbers have surged since Berlin announced that it would admit Syrians, even if they technically should have applied for refugee status in the first EU country that they set foot in on their way to Germany.

Interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said that Berlin was seeing forged Syrian passports. “There are people who claim to come from Syria but don’t speak a word of Arabic.”

The fact that many of those arriving in Germany claiming to be Syrian were from elsewhere did not mean they did not qualify for asylum. Mr de Maiziere urged asylum seekers to be truthful about their identity and to be patient while their request was processed.

“Whatever the speed of the procedure, for reasons of fairness, justice and security it needs to happen thoroughly.”

Montenegro said on Friday that it was preparing for a likely influx of refugees from Syria and beyond as they carved out a new path to get to Western Europe.

“With the latest developments at Hungary’s border [with Croatia] and the pressure on Macedonia and Serbia, it is possible that many refugees will choose to go through Montenegro,” said the government of the tiny Balkans nation.

“Taking into account that 5,000 migrants are arriving in the Western Balkans on a daily basis, Montenegro is preparing capacities to take in some 2,000.”

From Montenegro, the refugees would then travel towards the country’s western neighbours Bosnia and Croatia, said Zeljko Sofranac, head of the national refugee agency.

Regional authorities in the Croatian town of Dubrovnik said they were preparing for arrivals from Montenegro and were ready to handle about 3,000 to 5,000 refugees daily.

“We have information from several sources that migrants may choose the ‘southern path’ depending on weather and if the complicated situation on the border with Hungary, and at the border between Croatia and Serbia continues,” local official Goran Cvjetinovic said.

Croatia has handled a massive influx of refugees entering from across its eastern border with Serbia over the past 10 days. The route became popular after fellow EU member Hungary sealed off its border with Serbia.

In response, Croatia told Serbia to start redirecting the refugees towards Hungary and Romania, halting border traffic to try and put pressure on Belgrade. On Friday, however, Zagreb – under pressure from the EU – removed its border restrictions with Serbia.

Also on Friday, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, said that Budapest eventually planned to seal its border with Croatia. “The influx of migrants is not going to abate. We want to stop people crossing,” he said

* Agence France-Presse,

Associated Press and Reuters