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Friday, August 7, 2015

A look at developments as Europe deals with migrant influx

BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe is struggling to deal with a summer influx of migrants fleeing war and poverty. More than 192,000 people have arrived on its shores by sea so far this year. More than 2,000 have died, with another 200 feared dead in a capsized fishing boat off the coast of Libya this week.Here's a look at developments across Europe on Friday:___EUROPEAN UNION: The EU appealed to member countries to provide more aircraft and assets so its border agency can help Greece and Hungary, both hard-hit. Greece is dealing with migrants who arrive by boat from Turkey while Hungary is dealing with those who make their way north from Greece on foot. EU migration spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said more planes and technical assistance including personnel and patrol cars are needed. The appeal is a fresh sign of Europe's inability to manage the influx and share responsibility for arrivals.___GREECE: Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says Greece is overwhelmed by its migration problems as the country battles an economic crisis and that the EU is not doing enough to help. Nearly 50,000 migrants arrived in the EU via Greece in July alone, compared with 41,700 in all of 2014. Tsipras says countries that receive migrants cannot be treated as human warehouses, and humanitarian groups say reception centers in Greece are totally inadequate.___ITALY: Survivors of a fishing boat that capsized off Libya with around 650 people aboard say their smugglers forced people to stay below deck, and authorities fear that more than 200 died trapped inside. Five suspected smugglers were arrested for investigation of multiple counts of manslaughter and aiding illegal immigration. They are accused of belonging to a criminal organization based in Libya, from which overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels set sail.___BRITAIN: British authorities are investigating how a Sudanese migrant managed to walk nearly the entire length of the 31-mile (50-kilometer) Channel Tunnel from France. The 40-year-old apparently slipped past officers at the tunnel entrance and dodged hundreds of security cameras. Eurotunnel said the incident was extremely dangerous. Its trains can travel up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour.___HUNGARY: The governing Fidesz party called for migrants cutting through Hungary's new border fence to be "punished in an exemplary manner." More than 110,000 migrants have arrived this year, nearly all walking across the southern border with Serbia. Budapest hopes the 4-meter (13-foot) high fence the country is building to stop them will be finished by Aug. 31. State media says 18 migrants were caught overnight after cutting their way through.___GERMANY: Berlin warned migrants from the Balkans that they have little chance of being granted asylum and might be billed for the costs of sending them home. A four-minute video, to be screened in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, shows migrants being put aboard a police bus, then boarding a flight home. Germany has seen an influx of asylum applicants from the Balkans this year.Join the conversation about this story »


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