Austria saw the arrival of about
10,000 migrants on Saturday, amid bitter rows among EU nations on how to
handle the growing crisis.
The migrants were initially sent into
Hungary by Croatia, which said it was unable to cope with the 20,000 who
had arrived since Wednesday.
Hungary in turn shipped them on to Austria, accusing Croatia of breaking rules by failing to register migrants.
However, some told the BBC that Hungary had not registered them either.
On
Saturday Austrian police said about 9,000 people had crossed the border
from Hungary since midnight, about 5,000 at Heiligenkreuz, near the
city of Graz, and 4,000 at Nickelsdorf near Vienna.
It expected at least 10,000 by the end of the day.
The
deputy police chief of Austria's Burgenland state, Christian Stella,
told Austria Presse Agentur that Hungary had not given enough warning.
Media captionPeople keep on flowing to the Hungary-Croatia border, says Ben Brown
Austrian
Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner accused neighbouring countries
of failing to follow EU rules, expressing concern that migrants were
also arriving from Croatia via Slovenia.
One
migrant who crossed into the Austrian town of Heiligenkreuz from
Hungary told the Associated Press news agency: "I feel like I've been
born anew. It makes no difference whether I am delayed, whether I stay
here two days. The important thing is that I've finally arrived and that
I am now finally safe."
Croatia has seen 20,000 migrants entering
from Serbia since Wednesday and after initially welcoming them said it
was unable to cope and moved them on.
Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic admitted there was no agreement with Hungary.
"We forced them, by sending people up there. And we'll keep doing it," he said. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto branded
Mr Milanovic "pathetic", adding: "Instead of honestly making provision
for the immigrants, it sent them straight to Hungary. What kind of
European solidarity is this?"
The Hungarian government accused
Croatia of breaching international law by failing to register migrants
and said all migrants would be registered in Hungary before they could
leave for northern Europe.
However, a number of migrants who
reached Austria via Hungary told the BBC they had not been registered in
Hungary either, simply driven in buses across the country and told to
walk over a railway line into Austria.
A Hungarian government
spokesman could not confirm this, but said that although it was policy
to register migrants, they could not be forced to do so.
While
Hungary continues to transport migrants arriving from Croatia, it is
building a razor-wire fence on the border that will be completed soon.
It
says it will then enforce the same tough laws it introduced earlier
this week on its Serbian border - where there is a similar fence -
making crossing it a criminal offence.
However, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said that "at the moment" stopping the flow "seems to be impractical".
A five-year-old girl died when the
boat taking her from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos sank, the
Greek coastguard said. At least 13 other migrants on board are missing
A series of multinational operations
off Libya, including vessels from the UK, Italy and Germany, rescued
nearly 5,000 people trying to reach Europe
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan
Aurescu says Hungary's plan to build a fence along their shared border
is an "unacceptable solution and it contravenes the spirit of the EU"
EU meeting
Slovenia also accused Croatia of breaking the rules of both the EU and the Schengen free movement area. Image copyrightAPImage caption
Tension remains high at the Edirne crossing point between Greece and Turkey
Image copyrightReutersImage caption
A local Greek (R) jumps in to help rescue an Afghan
migrant who abandoned a floundering dinghy off the island of Lesbos
It said more than 1,500 migrants had entered the country, with hundreds more at the border.
Slovenian interior ministry official Bostjan Sefic said the police were "fully in control and the security situation is good".
Some 150 migrants have now entered Austria from the Slovenian border and were taken to the southern Austrian town of Spielfeld.
Most of the migrants are en route to more prosperous northern European countries - with Germany the favourite destination.
The EU has been strongly criticised for its failure to co-ordinate a response.
Interior
ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday in another attempt
to agree on relocating migrants with binding quotas for each state.
The next day, EU leaders will hold an extraordinary summit on migration. Migrant crisis in Europe: Key dates
13 July: Hungary starts building razor-wire fence on border with Serbia
25 Aug: Germany says all Syrian refugees can apply for asylum there, regardless of which EU country they first entered
2 Sept: Image of body of three-year-old Syrian Alan Kurdi, washed ashore in Turkey, moves public opinion worldwide
12 Sept: Record 4,330 migrants cross into Hungary
13 Sept: In a switch of policy, Germany introduces border controls with Austria - other EU nations later impose their own controls
15 Sept: Hungary enforces tough laws on migrants crossing its border fence, prompting thousands to turn to Croatian route
18 Sept: Croatia transports migrants over its border into Hungary, where Hungary rushes to build new fence
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. Are you near
the border of Croatia and Hungary or Slovenia? Are you in an area
affected by the route of migration? Let us know about your experiences.
Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
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