Austria and Germany are expecting
thousands more migrants to arrive from Hungary after Budapest eased
restrictions on their travel.
Throughout Saturday, by bus, train
and on foot, migrants, many of them Syrians, travelled to the Austrian
border before moving on to Vienna, Munich and other German cities.
Austria and Germany are providing more trains to deal with the influx.
The German government is to discuss the crisis later on Sunday.
After
days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary opened its borders with
Austria and bussed thousands of migrants to the frontier. Many,
frustrated at being prevented from boarding trains in Budapest, had
begun to walk along a motorway towards Austria.
Up to 10,000
crossed the Austrian border over a 24- to 48-hour period, according to
the Austrian authorities, who have said they do not plan to limit the
numbers entering.
Around 1,000 spent Saturday night in the open
at Nickelsdorf on the Austrian side of the frontier waiting to be
processed, officials say.
Media captionDrone footage filmed on Friday and Saturday shows the number of migrants prepared to walk to Austria
Many
of those arriving in Austria travelled straight on to Munich, in
southern Germany, where locals greeted them with applause, giving sweets
to the children among the new arrivals.
Some 7,000 arrived at Munich station on Saturday, police say.
They have been sent on to reception centres throughout Germany to be registered and receive food and clothing.
Many
of the migrants had travelled north through the Balkans - Greece,
Macedonia and Serbia - before arriving at Hungary's southern border.
Three-thousand
arrived in Presevo on the Serbian side of the frontier with Macedonia
on Saturday, most spending the night in tents or in the open, reports
say.
Just inside Hungary, between 200 and 300 migrants broke out
of a processing centre in Roszke, demanding to be allowed to proceed to
Germany, Hungarian media reports.
'Still valid'
Both
Germany and Hungary have said the current measures are aimed at
averting a humanitarian crisis, and will not set a precedent.
The
rules requiring refugees to apply for asylum in the first country they
land in "are still valid, and we expect other European Union member
states to stick to them", a German government spokesman said.
However,
in August Germany waived European Union rules on asylum seekers from
Syria, allowing them to register in Germany regardless of where they
first entered the EU. Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany can cope
with the influx of newcomers, but there have been disagreements within
her coalition government.
Some on the right say allowing so many
migrants in sends the wrong signal, but the centre-left Social Democrats
praised the move.
Germany is the key destination for arrivals on European shores, and expects to take in 800,000 people this year.
Syrians fleeing a brutal civil conflict are the largest group travelling, followed by Afghans and Eritreans. Image copyrightEPAImage caption
Many of the newcomers received a warm welcome in Germany
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Hungary had previously stopped migrants travelling by train to Western Europe
Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Austria is laying on more trains for the migrants on Sunday
Image caption
Shoes left for migrants by charities at the Austrian border
There is little sign of a co-ordinated EU response
to the crisis, despite more than 350,000 migrants having crossed the
EU's borders in 2015 alone.
Europe's migrant crisis is "here to
stay" and nations must act together to deal with it effectively, the
EU's foreign policy chief said after "difficult" talks with foreign
ministers in Luxembourg on Saturday.
"In three months time, it
will be other member states under the focus, and in six months, it could
be others again," Federica Mogherini said.
Germany, backed by the
European Commission, has been pushing for a quota system for sharing
out newcomers between EU member states.
But this has been opposed by several eastern members.
On
Saturday, Hungary said that while it had temporarily relaxed
restrictions on the transit of asylum seekers, it was pressing ahead
with plans to tighten border controls and could send troops to its
southern frontier if parliament agreed.
A border fence is due to completed by 15 September.
Migrant boy remembered
Image copyrightAPImage caption
White balloons were released in the memory of Alan and Ghalib
A memorial has been held in Vancouver, Canada for three-year-old Alan Kurdi, his brother Ghalib and mother Rehanna, who drowned trying to reach the Greek island of Kos. The three have family in Canada.
Pictures of Alan's body, washed up on a Turkish beach, prompted widespread anguish.
Members
of the Kurdi family were joined by more than 100 people to remember the
three Syrians, who died on the journey to Europe after fleeing the
conflict in their home country. Canada had earlier rejected an asylum
application on behalf of the family.
Tima Kurdi, the boys' aunt,
said she was worried about their father Abdullah, who attended the
burial for his family in Syria on Friday.
"He's not leaving the graves. He was sleeping the last three days there, on the ground, beside them." Are you among those trying to reach Austria and Germany? Have you been involved in these events? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your experience.
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