Great Migrant March to the West: Shock pics of THOUSANDS heading our way as EU nears brink
MARCHING in an almost perfect single column, tens of thousands of migrants weave their way through fields as they edge their way through Europe in bitterly cold conditions.
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AP
Tens of thousands of migrants marched through Slovenia
The
incredible movement was filmed high from the sky as an unprecedented
number of refugees crossed through Rigonce in Slovenia, as the country's
prime minister warned the crisis could destroy the European Union.
Mahmoud
Awad, a UNHCR field protection officer, said about 1,000 people passed
through the Serbian border town of Berkasovo and into Croatia overnight.
In
the Austrian border town of Spielfeld, 2,500 people spent the night in
tents and 7,000 more were expected Sunday from Slovenia, the DPA news
agency reported.
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Europe
continues to struggle against its greatest migration crisis since World
War II, with tens of thousands of people now trying to reach central
Europe via the Balkans.
These eye-opening
pictures came as European and Balkan leaders pledged to create space for
some 100,000 more migrants as they desperately try to stem the flow of
refugees crossing the continent.
The leaders met
for an emergency summit in Brussels where they agreed on a 17-point
plan to manage the numbers of refugees fleeing war and persecution in
Africa and the Middle East.
AP
AP
The Slovenian prime minister warned the migrant crisis could destroy the EU
After
lashing out at each other's ineffective handling of the migrant crisis,
the 11 leaders pledged to open up more space in refugee reception
centres to provide more shelter as the winter months draw in.
The
deal will see Greece open reception centres with enough room for 30,000
migrants by the end of the year, after the country saw 9,000 migrants
arrive every day last week.
Waving them through has to be stopped
The United
Nations' refugee body will also provide another 20,000 spaces, while
Balkan countries will add room for another 50,000 migrants.
Slovenian
Prime Minister Miro Cerar said his small Alpine nation was being
overwhelmed by the refugees - with 60,000 arriving in the last 10 days -
and was not receiving enough help from its EU partners.
He
called the latest migrant deal "a step in the right direction" as he
warned "Europe will start falling apart" if the crisis is not dealt
with.
After agreeing on the deal today, Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel called the migrant crisis "one of the greatest
litmus tests that Europe has ever faced".
While
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed: "Waving them through
has to be stopped and that is what is going to happen.
"The only way to restore order to this situation is to slow down the uncontrolled flow of these people."
AP
AP
The migrants were making their way to central Europe
Nearly
250,000 migrants have passed through the Balkans since mid-September,
with the numbers showing little signs of slowing despite the cold
weather and colder waters off Greece.
Many are
now spending days on end in the freezing cold as they wait outside on
the streets to cross the Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian borders.
Croatia
said 11,500 people crossed into the country on Saturday, the highest in
a single day since Hungary put up a fence and refugees started coming
into Croatia in mid-September.
Migrants who are
mainly trying to reach Germany or Scandinavia are now mainly travelling
across the water from Turkey to Greece, and then north to Macedonia and
Serbia before entering Croatia and moving on to Slovenia and Austria.
AP
Just some of the migrants who braved the trek
The
Greek coastguard today said a woman and two young children drowned and
seven other people were missing after their boat smashed into rocks on
the island of Lesbos amid turbulent seas.
A rescue mission managed to save 53 others.
Syrian
refugee Mohamed Alabdulameed, 28, is one of many trekking across Europe
as part of a desperate bid to escape the war ravaging his country.
He
said he initially hoped to make it to Britain but was changing plans
after hearing how dangerous it had become to try and get across the
English Channel.
More than a dozen migrants have
been killed in the last few months after climbing on top of trains or
trucks going through the Channel Tunnel.
He
said: "I am asking myself 'Why do they close the doors in front of us,
especially the educated people who studied their language in other
countries?'"
"That's why I am really surprised and astonished at the same time."
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