Tensions as migrant path to Croatia is blocked

Tensions are building among thousands of migrants heading north through Balkan states as their route to Western Europe is stalled by new controls.

Croatia had asked its northern neighbour Slovenia to accept 5,000 migrants daily, but Slovenia said it would only take half that number.

The move has led to a build-up of people on Croatia’s border with Serbia.

An official told the BBC that Croatia could run out of room in its transit camps within days.

Buses crammed with people were backed up in Serbia on Sunday, and tempers flared between frustrated migrants and overstretched police officers.

Overnight, many were forced to wait in the cold and the rain.

Thousands of asylum seekers are travelling north through the Balkans, with most aiming to reach Austria, Germany and other EU states.

Hungary, citing security concerns, has closed its borders with Serbia and Croatia, forcing migrants to switch to a slower route via Slovenia.

Explaining Slovenia’s new restrictions on Sunday, Interior Ministry State Secretary Bostjan Sefic said its northern neighbour Austria was only accepting a maximum of 1,500 people a day.

He said that Slovenia “cannot accept unlimited numbers of migrants if we know that they cannot continue their journey”.

Read also: Migrant crisis: Hungary closes border with Croatia

If we would accept 5,000 migrants per day, that would mean 35,000 would be in Slovenia in 10 days,” he said. “That would be unacceptable.”

About 5,000 migrants spent a cold night in a transit camp in Opatovac, eastern Croatia.

The BBC’s Guy Delauney in Cakovec, near Croatia’s border with Slovenia, said railway stations were quiet on Monday morning.

Passengers on one train, blocked by Slovenia from entering its territory, were offered the choice by Croatian officials of staying temporarily in Croatia or getting off and making their own way.

The situation has changed from an orderly flow of refugees through Serbia and Croatia into Slovenia to one where people are being asked to take their chances, with the risks that entails.

Over the border in Serbia, thousands had been kept in about 50 buses since early on Sunday waiting to cross to Croatia.

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