Slovenia border stand-off as Croatia busses migrants into Hungary

As Budapest said more than 4400 people had crossed from Croatia in 24 hours before it closed the final stretch of a new razor wire barrier along the frontier at midnight, Slovenia said it was considering "corridors" for refugees through its territory and would take in up to 10 000 refugees.

Croatia earlier said it had reached saturation point after more than 17 000 people arrived on its soil in the last two days, and began channelling the flow towards hardline Hungary, which has vowed to "defend its borders" from the influx.

The move sparked a furious diplomatic row between the neighbours as Budapest accused Zagreb of inciting refugees to break its tough new laws, which include three-year jail terms for breaching its border fence.

Tensions later flared at Harmica on the Slovenian border with Croatia as migrants began to mass after rail services north were suspended by Ljubljana.

Riot police used tear gas to stop several hundred migrants, some with children, that were pushing against a police cordon at a bridge on the border after a tense stand-off of more than an hour.

"I just want to cross the border," said a young Syrian student at Harmica wearing a black Iron Maiden T-shirt.

- Refugee 'corridors' -

The clash happened shortly after Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said the small Alpine country might consider the creation of "corridors" for refugees wanting to reach northern Europe if they continue arriving in large numbers.

Slovenia's ambassador to Germany, meanwhile told the Rheinische Post newspaper that his country would accept "up to 10 000" refugees.

With no let-up in the flow of people desperate to find shelter in Europe from war and misery, and thousands stranded by border closures and increasing controls, new figures showed the European Union had received almost a quarter of a million asylum requests in the three months to June. 

As the body of another child washed up on a Turkish beach, the International Organization for Migration also said nearly 474,000 people had so far this year braved perilous trips across the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

The four-year-old girl, who has yet to be identified, was found near the town of Cesme after a boat carrying 15 Syrians to the Greek island of Chios sank, the Anatolia news agency said.

Harrowing pictures of three-year-old Syrian Aylan Kurdi, who drowned as his family tried to reach the Greek island of Kos, caused global dismay and seemed to briefly galvanise a European response to the biggest refugee crisis the continent has faced since World War II.

But with eastern EU members fiercely resisting plans to take a share of the new arrivals, and Hungary this week sealing its southern border with Serbia, thousands of refugees have tried to open a new route to northern Europe through Croatia and Slovenia. 

Photo: AFP

AFP