Migrants stranded in Croatia have
been making renewed efforts to head north despite moves by Slovenia and
Hungary to hold them back.
Slovenian police used pepper spray on Friday night to disperse a group trying to cross from Croatia.
Hungary,
meanwhile, accused Croatia of breaking international law after asylum
seekers were sent over the border without first being registered.
The EU, which is divided on the crisis, is to hold emergency talks next week.
Overnight,
thousands of migrants trying to pass through the Balkans to reach
northern EU states spent the night at railway stations or sleeping
alongside roads.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people slept on a major
motorway near Edirne in north-western Turkey, after Turkish police
stopped them from crossing the border into Greece on Friday evening.
As controls have got tighter, many migrants have strayed from transport routes, walking through cornfields to reach borders.
In
a day of chaos and confusion on Friday, people were shunted from one
border to another as governments remained split over how to handle the
crisis. Thousands
entered Croatia from Serbia earlier this week after Hungary fenced off
its Serbian border and sealed shut the previous route north.
Croatia
had initially said migrants would be welcome, but on Friday said it was
overwhelmed after seeing 17,000 arrivals since Wednesday. It has closed
all border crossings with Serbia except the main road linking Belgrade
and Zagreb.
'No co-ordination'
Croatia
then began sending people north without registering them, angering
Slovenia and Hungary. All three are EU states but asylum seekers
particularly want to reach Hungary and Slovenia, which are in the borderless Schengen Area.
Hungarian
authorities said a train carrying more than 1,000 migrants and about 40
Croatian police had arrived unannounced. Officials said the officers
were being sent back to Croatia and the migrants were being sent by bus
to registration centres near the border with Austria. Image copyrightEPAImage caption
Hundreds of people slept on a major motorway near Turkey's border with Greece and Bulgaria
Image copyrightAPImage caption
These migrants waited for buses at the border between Austria and Hungary
Austria, however, said it had not co-ordinated with Hungary to take the migrants.
It
said it reserved the right to deny entry to any migrants who did not
request asylum because they wanted to continue travelling north to
Germany or elsewhere.
There was tension in the village of Harmica
on the Slovenian border with Croatia where people were stranded when all
rail services were suspended.
After a stand-off, Slovenian riot police used pepper spray against a crowd trying to cross the border on foot.
Bostjan
Sefic, state secretary at the Slovenian interior ministry, accused
Croatia of breaking the rules of both the EU and the Schengen agreement
by deciding to stop registering migrants. Image copyrightAFPImage caption
People were desperate to board trains at the Croatian town of Tovarnik near the Serbian border
However, Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar later
said that if the pressure of arrivals became too great, it might seek to
form corridors allowing migrants safe passage.
EU regulations dictate that refugees must register and claim asylum in the first member state they reach.
But many migrants and refugees wish to continue on to countries in northern Europe such as Germany and Sweden.
Europe
is experiencing a huge influx of asylum seekers - many fleeing
conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - but 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.
In
his invitation to leaders, European Council President Donald Tusk
called the crisis a test of the EU's "humanity and responsibility".
He said migration would be a challenge for "many years to come". 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.
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