Denmark has suspended all rail links with Germany after police stopped hundreds of migrants at the border.
Danish
police also closed a motorway between the two countries when some
asylum seekers began walking north after being forced off a train.
They say their destination is Sweden.
As
the EU struggles with a major migrant crisis, the European Commission
has proposed that 120,000 additional asylum seekers should be shared out
between members, using binding quotas.
Denmark's DSB rail
operator said trains to and from Germany had been suspended for an
indefinite period because of exceptional passport checks.
Promise of papers
Two
trains carrying more than 200 migrants are being held in Rodby, a major
port with ferry links to Germany. Danish police say many migrants are
refusing to leave the trains because they do not want to be registered
in Denmark.
Police also closed part of the E45 motorway - the
main road link between Germany and Denmark - after about 300 migrants
left another train and set off on foot towards Sweden near the border
town of Padborg.
Sweden has become a top destination for refugees after it promised to issue residency papers to all Syrian asylum seekers.
Denmark's
new centre-right government has promised to get tough on immigration.
Since its election in June it has slashed benefits for new arrivals and
restricted the right to residency.
Media captionThe BBC's Mark Lowen spoke to a family from Iraq who lost their son when a smuggler's boat capsized
About 3,000 migrants have entered the country since the weekend.
Prime Minister Lars Lokke-Rasmussen said Denmark was under pressure as asylum seekers arrive on their way to Sweden.
"This clearly shows that what we are facing right now is not only a refugee problem, it is also a migration problem," he said.
'Dignity'
A
surge of migrants fleeing conflict and hardship in Africa and the
Middle East has pushed north through Europe over the past few weeks.
Many
of those escaping the civil war in Syria have travelled from Turkey
across the sea to Greece, through Macedonia and Serbia, and then to
Hungary from where they aim to reach northern Europe.
Media captionEC
President Jean-Claude Juncker: "I'm strongly in favour of allowing
asylum seekers to work and to earn... whilst their applications are
being processed"
On Wednesday
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced plans for a
"swift, determined and comprehensive" response through a quota system. In a "state of the union" annual address, he said tackling the crisis was "a matter of humanity and human dignity".
Among Mr Juncker's proposals:
EU member states to accept their share
of an additional 120,000 refugees, building upon proposed quotas to
relocate 40,000 refugees which were set out in May (though governments
then only actually agreed to take 32,000)
A permanent relocation system to "deal with crisis situations more swiftly in the future"
Commission to propose list of "safe countries" to which migrants would generally have to return
Efforts to strengthen the EU's common asylum system
A review of the so-called Dublin system, which states that people must claim asylum in the state where they first enter the EU
Better management of external borders and better legal channels for migration
"It's 160,000 refugees in total that Europeans have
to take into their arms and I really hope that this time everyone will
be on board," Mr Juncker told the European Parliament.
The new plans would relocate 60% of those now in Italy, Greece and Hungary to Germany, France and Spain.
The
numbers allocated to each country would depend on GDP, population,
unemployment rate and asylum applications already processed.
Countries refusing to take in migrants could face financial penalties.
Media captionSyrian refugees stuck on the Greek island of Lesbos speak of their misery
Next steps for EU leaders:
14 Sept: Special meeting of EU interior ministers on refugee crisis, with Juncker proposals on agenda
15-16
Oct: EU leaders' summit, with refugee crisis high on agenda. European
Parliament then to decide on any new asylum measures with EU governments
Early 2016: EU proposals for better management of legal migration to EU due Can the EU overcome rifts? What next for Germany's asylum seekers? What can the EU do to solve the crisis? Nine key moments in crisis
Spain on Wednesday said it would accept a quota of almost 15,000 extra migrants migrants set by the EU.
However, Mr Juncker's proposals was criticised by both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Czech
Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said compulsory quotas were "not a good
solution", while his Slovak counterpart called them "irrational".
France
welcomed the first of 1,000 migrants it has pledged to take from
Germany, having committed to receive 24,000 migrants over two years.
Germany has welcomed Syrian migrants, waiving EU rules and saying it expects to deal with 800,000 asylum seekers this year alone - though not all will qualify as refugees and some will be sent back.
A note on terminology:
The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who
have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group
includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely
to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs
and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic
migrants.
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