EU Proposes to Extend Border Controls inside Schengen Area for another six months.

EU Proposes to Extend Border Controls inside Schengen Area for another six months. (Novinite).

The European Commission has proposed to extend for up to six months temporary controls at internal Schengen borders in five Member States which attract the majority of refugees and migrants streaming into Europe.

The proposed recommendation, to be decided upon by the Council of the EU, takes into account the fact that despite the significant progress made by Greece, not all of the serious deficiencies identified in the country’s external border management could be adequately and comprehensively addressed within the three months' limit, the Commission said in a statement on Wednesday.

The five countries - Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden - have already temporarily reintroduced controls at some of their borders to curb the the threat to internal security resulting from the secondary movements of irregular migrants.

The reintroduction of controls is foreseen under the Schengen Borders Code, which sets out a specific procedure for exceptional circumstances where the overall functioning of the Schengen area is put at risk by serious and persistent deficiencies at an EU external border.

The Commission has recommended that Austria kept controls at its borders with Hungary and Slovenia; Germany – at its land border with Austria; Denmark – at its ports with ferry links to Germany as well as the Danish-German land border.

The recommendation gives Sweden the right to keep border controls in the country’s harbours in the south and west as well as at the Oresund bridge, while Norway is to keep border checks at its ports with ferry links to Denmark, Germany and Sweden.

Germany deems passports issued from within ISIS territory invalid.

Germany deems passports issued from within ISIS territory invalid. (DS).

Germany has declared Syrian and Iraqi passports issued in territory controlled by ISIS invalid.

The Interior Ministry confirmed a report Saturday by the weekly Der Spiegel that German authorities stopped recognizing the passports Dec. 10. The measure was taken less than a month after French police found Syrian passports on the bodies of two men involved in the deadly Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.

Security services believe ISIS seized large numbers of blank passports and passport-making equipment when they captured Deir el-Zor, Raqqa and Hassakeh in Syria, and Mosul and Anbar province in Iraq.

The Interior Ministry said all documents issued from those cities since Jan. 1, 2015, are invalid in Germany and their bearers' identities are considered unconfirmed unless they can provide other documents.

Hungarian PM Orban says EU-Turkey migrant deal an ‘illusion’.

Hungarian PM Orban says EU-Turkey migrant deal an ‘illusion’. (HD).

"We are begging Mr (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan submissively for security on our borders, in exchange for money and promises, because we can't protect them ourselves," Orban told Thursday's mass-selling German daily Bild.

"This is making Europe's future and security dependent on the goodwill of Turkey."

"Brussels is making promises to the Turks that we can't keep - or don't want to keep. The plan to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees from Turkey and distribute them across Europe is an illusion," he said.

If Hungary agreed to this, he said, "they would tie me up on the flagpole here in Budapest". Read the full story here.

On the Austrian-Slovenian border, Austria fingerprints migrants, then discards them.

On the Austrian-Slovenian border, Austria fingerprints migrants, then discards them. (AlAhram).

On the Austrian-Slovenia border, one of the last stops on the migrant route to Germany, a policeman explains that after his 12-hour shift taking new arrivals' fingerprints, most are lost minutes after they are taken.


"We are not allowed to save the fingerprints," the Austrian policeman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said as he sat in a tent at the Spielfeld border crossing. "We do what we're asked to do."

Austria, which saw 700,000 migrants crossing its borders last year, says it is not legally allowed to save and share with other European states more than 90 percent of the fingerprint data it takes of migrants fleeing war and poverty, a potential security problem at a major migrant hub.

It is only required to upload onto Europe's shared fingerprint database, Eurodac, the data of those who actually apply for asylum in the country, which is less than 10 percent of those crossing into Austria.

So Austria takes digital fingerprints of everyone entering the country, checks whether they have a criminal record, but does not save the data if they want to move on to Germany, which most do.

Roz, a 28-year old Syrian mother of two, is surprised to hear that her family's fingerprints are neither saved nor shared.


"They need to know who we are. If you record fingerprints of refugees, it guarantees security in this country," she said as she was shown by Austrian officials onto a bus that would take her to the German border, her chosen destination.

The situation highlights how European laws are far behind the challenges of the continent's latest crisis, one that has already seen hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees, mainly from Syria, flooding into the continent seeking a new life.

"That is a major problem, we have no records on these people, there are so many moving around the bloc and we have no trace of them whatsoever," said one diplomat in Brussels, adding that some EU countries have tried to push for changes but they were blocked due to privacy protection concerns.

Berndt Koerner, deputy executive director of Europe's border agency Frontex, said he was confronted with an "anachronism" in the sharing of migrant data.


"We are currently confronted with the problem that we cannot access certain databases, which can be used nationally in border controls," Koerner told reporters this month.

Only states on the EU's external borders, such as Greece and Italy, must save and share all fingerprint data. Read the full story here.

EU is poised to restrict free travel within Schengen Area

EU is poised to restrict free travel within Schengen Area. (DS).

BRUSSELS: European Union countries are poised to restrict passport-free travel by invoking an emergency rule to impose controls at several borders for two more years because of the migration crisis, according to EU documents seen by The Associated Press.

The switch will reverse a decades-old trend of expanding passport-free travel in Europe.

The documents show that EU policy makers are preparing to make unprecedented use of an emergency provision by declaring that Greece is failing to sufficiently protect it border. Some 2,000 people are still arriving daily on Greek islands in smugglers' boats from Turkey, most of them keen to move deeper into Europe to wealthier countries like Germany and Sweden.

In Brussels on Friday, EU nations acknowledged that the overall functioning of Schengen "is at serious risk" and said Greece must make further efforts to deal with the migrant crisis at its source.

With a sense of compromise, Friday's EU statement acknowledged the vast challenge facing Greece, saying "the very large number of arrivals is such that the external border controls of any member state would be placed under severe pressure."

So far, six Schengen members have imposed border checks, and many of those would have to dismantle them starting in mid-May under Schengen rules. Germany has until May 13, and has made clear that it does not want to relinquish the checks. The other countries are France, Austria, Denmark, and Norway. Read the full story here.

Greece agrees to recognize Turkey as ‘safe’ country meaning it can turn back refugees.

Greece agrees to recognize Turkey as ‘safe’ country meaning it can turn back refugees. (ekathimerini).

Greek authorities agreed on Friday to recognize Turkey as a “safe third country,” which means migrants for whom Turkey is a country of transit, not of origin, can be returned there.

The decision was announced after a meeting in Athens between Greek Interior Minister Panayiotis Kouroublis and his French and German counterparts, Bernard Cazeneuve and Thomas de Maiziere.

“This is a major step for Greece and we are taking it because we want to show our willingness to find a comprehensive way to address the problem,” said Kouroublis after the meeting. European officials said the shift in Greek policy was a “good start.”

The goal “cannot just be to register arriving refugees and to relocate them equitably [but above all] to reduce the flow,” said de Maiziere at the end of his two-day visit. He added that Germany is sending 100 police officers and two coast guard vessels to Greece.

Cazeneuve said he is in favor of the European Union border agency taking on greater responsibility. Data from the passport-free Schengen zone must include “terrorism [records] by police and intelligence agencies, and conditions must be created to link the Schengen system to other criminal records,” Cazeneuve told reporters.

Greece is under pressure to complete the creation of more “hot spots” for registering refugees and migrants later this month. Athens has enlisted the help of the army to carry out the work.

As of yesterday, 94 prefabricated structures had been delivered to the site in Chios and 87 on Leros. Construction work was under way on Samos, where an old army firing range is being converted.

On Kos, riot police who had been sent to the island from Athens fired tear gas to deter some 100 locals who tried to force their way into a disused army camp that is being turned into a hot spot.

European Union sources told Kathimerini they are hopeful that at least three of the five centers will be ready in the next few days given that the army is now coordinating the work and humanitarian aid has arrived from other EU member states.  Hmmm........Return to sender.

Video - Danish female journalist on rapes and terrorism: We need men “that can stand up, who can fight back”

French Defense Minister Says 'Major Risk' of IS Crossing in to Europe with Libya Refugees.

French Defense Minister Says 'Major Risk' of IS Crossing in to Europe with Libya Refugees. (Naharnet).

Islamic State fighters hiding among refugees traveling from Libya to Italy pose a "major risk" to Europe, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday. 

Le Drian said there was an "urgent" need for a political solution to the crisis in Libya to help combat the spread of the Islamic State group (IS), which now has several thousand fighters in the North African country.

"Daesh is installing itself," Le Drian told French TV, using the Arabic acronym for the IS group. 

"I have been very worried about Libya since September 2014. They are there, nearly 300 kilometers from the coast, and they are spreading."

He said that put IS only 350 kilometers from the Italian island of Lampedusa, the arrival point for thousands of migrants and refugees leaving Libya for the European Union.

"When good weather comes to the Mediterranean, there is the risk that (IS fighters) could make the crossing, mixing in with refugees. It's a major risk," said Le Drian. Read the full story here.

Bulgarian PM Borisov Calls for Immediately Closing EU's External Borders.

Bulgarian PM Borisov Calls for Immediately Closing EU's External Borders. (Novinite).

Bulgarian Prime Minister called on Friday for an immediate closure of the external borders of the EU in view of the ongoing migrant crisis.

Borisov said this during a joint briefing with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban who arrived on a visit to Bulgaria on Thursday evening.

The Bulgarian prime minister noted that European leaders have failed to reach consensus on this issue at several meetings of the European Council.

He expressed hope that at the forthcoming meetings of the European Council the European leaders will be fairer towards the migrants.

In his words, Europe could no longer sustain the refugee influx.

According to him, the return of migrants once they have reached western Europe was even more inhumane than halting them at the external borders.

Borisov was convinced that if earlier calls for closing the external borders had been heard half a year ago, there would have been need for fewer migrants to be returned.

He was firm that the stance of the EU should take into account the common European solidarity as no single state should be left on its own to deal with all the refugees.

During the press conference, Orban called on the EU to admit the success of Bulgaria in dealing with the refugee crisis and to offer the country membership to the Schengen Area.

Macedonia 'Closes Border with Greece to Migrants'

Macedonia 'Closes Border with Greece to Migrants'. (Novinete).

Greece says Macedonia is no longer allowing migrants to enter the country on their way to Central and Western Europe, ABC news reports.

Skopje officials did not immediately comment, but Athens maintains the border has effectively been sealed off to migrants for several days.

Macedonia announced in November it would only let in people seeking asylum from countries where conflict is raging, such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The step was announced as a result of similar decisions from Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia.

Last week, some EU member states' governments suggested the EU should ask Bulgaria and Macedonia, Greece's northern neighbors, for more cooperation if Athens fails to provide the border controls needed to curb the flow of migrants into Europe.

Dutch plan for EU ‘refugee swap’ with Turkey.

Dutch plan for EU ‘refugee swap’ with Turkey. (EUObserver).

The Netherlands is gathering support among a group of EU countries for a plan to accept “a couple hundred thousand refugees per year” from Turkey, in exchange for sending back all illegal migrants that arrive in Greece.

The plan was revealed on Thursday (28 January) by Dutch social-democrat leader Diederik Samsom in an interview with newspaper De Volkskrant, and has the support of prime minister Mark Rutte.

The Netherlands currently holds the rotating six-month EU presidency.

“I think there is a realistic chance that by this spring a leading group of EU countries will have an agreement with Turkey about a legal migration route for a couple hundred thousand refugees per year, in exchange for [Turkey] accepting back everyone who enters [the EU] via Greece,” Samsom told the paper's Brussels correspondent.

The idea is to distribute "between 150,000 and 250,000" refugees among EU countries who voluntarily take part in the plan. #BS  ----->

A first meeting about the plan took place in December, with Rutte, German chancellor Angela Merkel, Swedish prime minister Stefan Loefven, and Dutch EU commissioner Frans Timmermans.





Samsom noted he has been speaking “intensively” with Germany, Austria, and Sweden “because they have social-democrats in the government”.

“In the worst case scenario, only these countries plus a few like France, Spain, and Portugal take part,” he said, adding that France has been “dodging” the issue.

“When I call prime minister Valls [about the plan], he says 'interessant, tres interessant', and hopes I don't ask any further.”

While under the Samsom plan reluctant member states would not be forced to take up any refugees, they would have to pitch in financially. The plan, which he described as “the permanent [EU] asylum system”, would be funded from the EU budget.

For the plan to work and for illegal migrants to be sent back to Turkey “by return ferry”, Turkey would have to be considered a safe country by United Nations criteria. Hmmmm.......Why do i have the feeling that the EU population is watching a Kabuki theater performance? Read more here.

#Turkey PM @Ahmet_Davutoglu tells Turkish businesspeople in #Germany that hundreds of thousands of #Syrians will likely come to Germany

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) January 23, 2016

EU ministers to meet in Amsterdam to discuss reintroducing national border controls for two years.

EU ministers to meet in Amsterdam to discuss reintroducing national border controls for two years. (RT).

EU ministers will meet in Amsterdam to discuss steps to allow states to reintroduce national border controls for two years, possibly spelling the end for the 30-year-old Schengen Agreement allowing passport-free travel across 26 states, according to reports.

The refugee crisis has pushed Europe to “a make or break” point, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, giving rise to fresh fears that the Schengen agreement – currently cracking under the strain of migrants arriving en masse from the Middle East, Africa and beyond – could be reviewed.

The influx of refugees has greatly increased the pressure on Schengen, and when asked whether it was at risk, Lagarde replied: “Yes, I think so.”

Under the Schengen Agreement, temporary border checks may be extended for a total period of two years. For the extension to happen, EU leaders have to agree that "persistent serious deficiencies" in controls at Schengen's external borders put its very existence in jeopardy.

"We have not yet launched this mechanism ... (but) this possibility exists, it is there and the Commission is prepared to use it if need be," a spokeswoman for the EU's executive said of the potential extension on Friday, Reuters reported. The Commission would then have to recommend the extension and the European Council approve it by a qualified majority.

So far six Schengen members (Germany, Sweden, Austria, France, Denmark and non-EU member Norway) have been forced to resort to reinstating temporary border checks in the passport-free area - measures which can stay in place until May. Read the full story here.

Stopping the Flow: Berlin searching a for Back-Up Plan in Refugee Crisis.

Stopping the Flow: Berlin searching a for Back-Up Plan in Refugee Crisis. (Spiegel).

Sometimes, the greatest changes are announced very quietly. Each Thursday, representatives of the countries located along the refugee route that crosses the Balkans meet by video conference for a briefing on the current situation. Are there sufficient accommodations in Greece? Are there enough heated tents in Croatia. There are numerous organizational and administrative questions, and the whole affair has an almost routine feel to it.

Participating in the group on Germany's behalf is Uwe Corsepius, Chancellor Angela Merkel's European policy advisor. Last Thursday, he and his colleagues from Austria and Slovenia informed the others first talks were being conducted about, among other things, finding ways to better control Slovenia's borders.

That may not sound like much, but was nothing less than an announcement that Germany was making a strategic shift in its refugee policies. Merkel has been insistent that a European solution needs to be found for the crisis. But asked what this "European solution" might look like, officials are giving a different answer these days than they used to.

Previously, the official German position had been that refugees should be stopped at the European Union's external borders in Greece and Italy. The plan had been to open up large initial reception centers, so-called hotspots, where refugees would be registered and a decision made on their possible redistribution to other European countries. Merkel says she is still pursuing this plan.


The problem is that the opening of the hotspots is moving ahead extremely slowly. Greece in particular, the country through which most refugees are currently traveling to the European Union, isn't adhering to its obligations. It's one of the main reasons the number of refugees has not dropped in Germany to a degree that might reduce political pressure on Merkel.

The idea foresees Slovenia playing a key role -- as the first country after Greece along the West Balkan route that has an external Schengen border. The plan would envision stopping all migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Africa there. Read the full story here.

'EU Needs Fence on Bulgaria, Macedonia Borders with Greece to Stop Migrants' Hungarian PM Orban.

'EU Needs Fence on Bulgaria, Macedonia Borders with Greece to Stop Migrants' Hungarian PM Orban. (Novinite).

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that the EU needs a fence along Greece’s borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria to cope with the ongoing migrant influx and save the bloc’s Schengen area of passport-free travel.

"If we cannot secure the outer border (of the EU), regardless of how costly or demanding that is, we will destroy the Schengen regime by ourselves," Reuters quoted Orban as saying during a visit to Slovenia on Friday .

Two weeks ago, Orban told Hungary’s public radio that Bulgaria, which is bordering Greece to the north, should be admitted into Schengen Area because the EU’s deal with Turkey to stem the flow of migrants into Europe in exchange for possible financial aid of EUR 3 B wouldn’t be enough to deter migrant pressure.

Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has also called for talks with Bulgaria and Macedonia to curb the migrant inflow as the EU’s southern frontiers– and particularly Greece’s long maritime border - were still wide open to the ongoing influx of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

David Boss: "Now imagine 1 billion inhabitants, imagine they all move north towards Europe.”

David Boss: "Now imagine 1 billion inhabitants, imagine they all move north towards Europe.” (Bloomberg).

The founder of the World Economic Forum, which will hold its annual meeting this weekend in Davos, Switzerland, is predicting that falling oil prices could worsen the migrant crisis and bring chaos to Europe.

As the crash in commodities prices spreads economic woe across the developing world, Europe could face a wave of migration that will eclipse today’s refugee crisis, says Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

“Look how many countries in Africa, for example, depend on the income from oil exports,” Schwab said in an interview ahead of the WEF’s 46th annual meeting, in the Swiss resort of Davos. “Now imagine 1 billion inhabitants, imagine they all move north.”

“First, we have to look at the root causes of this,” Schwab said. “The normal citizen today is overwhelmed by the complexity and rapidity of what’s happening, not only in the political world but also the technological field.”

That sense of dislocation has fueled the rise of radical political leaders who tap into a rich vein of anger and xenophobia. For reason to prevail, Schwab said, “we have to re-establish a sense that we all are in the same boat.”

Schwab warns that technological innovation may result in the loss of 20 million jobs in the coming years. Those job cuts risk “hollowing out the middle class,” Schwab said, “a pillar of our democracies.” Read the full story here.

Austria suspends Schengen agreement, steps up border control, tells EU to clean up their refugee act.

Austria suspends Schengen agreement, steps up border control, tells EU to clean up their refugee act. (RT).

Vienna is radically changing its policy towards migrants and refugees, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann told local media.

“All refugees must be controlled, economic migrants must be sent to the countries of their origin,” Faymann said in an interview with Austria’s Oesterreich newspaper, to be published on Sunday.

The government is implementing a strict monitoring system for asylum seekers, the chancellor said, adding that, just like in neighboring Germany, its border controls are being tightened, and repatriations of refugees are carried out.

“Anyone who arrives at our border is subject to control,” Faymann said. Consequently, the Schengen agreement on open borders is “temporarily cancelled” in Austria, the chancellor said.

“If the EU does not manage to secure the external borders, Schengen as a whole is put into question...Then each country must control its national borders,” Faymann told the newspaper, adding that if the bloc’s external borders are not secured in the near future, “the whole EU [will be] in question.”  Hmmm.........The end of Europe thanks to the refugees welcome policy. 

Read the full story here.

Related: 

Can the refugee crisis and subsequent rise of Extreme right make the EU fall apart?

Judge: Merkel Committed Historic Breach Of Law In Opening Borders, Constitution Allows ‘Right To Resist’ https://t.co/l0xvYU6lVo

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) January 17, 2016

EU gives green light German, Swedish temporary re-imposition of border controls.

EU gives green light to German, Swedish temporary border checks. (DS).

The European Commission has formally authorized the temporary re-imposition of border controls by Sweden and Germany's extension of frontier checks to help get a grip on a large influx of asylum seekers, the EU executive said Friday.

With refugees flooding into European Union territory in the worst migrant crisis since World War II, the viability of the EU's Schengen system of open borders is under strain as never before as EU members reintroduce controls at their frontiers.

Sweden, long a haven for people fleeing war and persecution, was the latest EU state to re-establish checks at its borders to stem a tide of migrants coming from Denmark.

Germany reimposed border controls on Sept. 13 and decided to extend them beyond an initial limit of two months foreseen by Schengen rules, using a clause that permits stretching checks to a maximum of six months.

"The temporary reintroduction of border controls between member states is an exceptional possibility explicitly foreseen in and regulated by the Schengen Borders Code, in case of a serious threat to public policy or internal security," the European Commission said in a statement.

The Swedish decision "prima facie appears to be a situation covered by the rules", it said.

The decision replicated similar provisional authorizations granted by the EU executive to Austria, Hungary and Slovenia when they imposed temporary border controls in recent weeks.

"We have no objections to measures that should remain proportionate," a Commission spokeswoman told a regular news briefing. "Saving Schengen is a race against time. And we are determined to win that race," the head of EU leaders, Donald Tusk said after the meeting. Hmmm.........Too late the political face of Europe will be changed coming next election.

Video - Refugee crisis leads to Far right on the rise in Germany and the EU.

More then a month ago i was warning for this would happen in Europe, it's already happening.

The Netherlands.

The Hague (AFP) - New tensions flared in the Netherlands Sunday over the sensitive issue of taking in migrants, only hours after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte sharply condemned a "cowardly" attack on a refugee shelter.

Police were forced to intervene in the central city of Utrecht on Sunday when hundreds joined a rally organised by the far-right German PEGIDA movement, short for "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident".

A poll published Sunday in the De Telegraaf newspaper showed that the Freedom Party (PVV) of firebrand far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders appears to be shooting up the polls amid the refugee crisis.

His party won 15 seats in the last elections in 2012. But according to the daily De Telegraaf, if elections were held today his party could snatch as many as 35 seats in the 150-seat lower house.

HT And source:

Update #Refugees (English) #marchofhope #MigrantMarch #trainofhope is finished http://t.co/cC4z2UOdnh THX: @OranjeKhadra @HumaLiaquatHR

— Muschelschloss☕ ️ (@Muschelschloss) October 12, 2015

Belgium - Massive Brawl and Damage in refugee center. Ten wounded, Four arrests.

Massive Brawl and Damage in refugee center. Ten wounded, Four arrests. Source: (Theredaction.BE) [GoogleTranslated].

Belgium - In the refugee shelter of Florennes , in the province of Namur, last night broke out a massive brawl. The fight was between two rival groups of fifty Iraqi and Afghan asylum seekers. Eventually the federal police had to intervene. Ten people have been put under administrative arrest and the damage to the center is considerable.

The problems began Wednesday night around 22:30. Thirty police officers came to the center and were able to calm the situation, but two hours later, tempers flared again high. Everything was beaten with baseball bats and windows, tables and doors had to believe it. It is then that the police asked for help from the federal police.

The brawl resulted in ten wounded. Three were taken by ambulance to the hospital, the others with a taxi. Four persons were arrested what will happen to the rest remains to be seen.

Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Theo Francken (N-VA) went yesterday evening with the director general of Fedasil, the governor and the mayor on the spot. "It is intolerable to me that what happened here yesterday," he responds to VRT news. "We are particularly welcoming, but there are really limits. This we can not tolerate, this is way out of line."

"The incidents are included in the asylum applications (of such persons, ed.). When it comes to effective convictions, it may be that their asylum application is therefore denied", emphasizes Francken. "The people in the field do much to avoid this up. It is unfortunate that it happens anyway."

Overcrowding as a cause?

According Fedasil is the cause of the brawl to the overcrowding of the shelters. "We do not yet know all the details, but our centers are overstaffed, also in Florennes," said Mieke Candaele Fedasil. "Our experience shows often it does lead to tensions between residents, especially when higher concentrations of certain nationalities are present."

Fights Break Out in German Refugee Camps as Violence Spreads.

Fights Break Out in German Refugee Camps as Violence Spreads. (SP).

Amid the deepening European migrant and refugee crisis, violence across Germany is spreading as frustrations reach boiling point in already overcrowded asylum centers.

There has been a series of violent battles in Calden Airport near the city of Kassel, which houses around 1,500 refugees, involving as many as 350 Albanians and Pakistanis, after a series of brawls left around 60 injured.

Violence among migrants and refugees has been reported in Dresden and Leipzig, as well as other centers including Ellwangen in Baden-Württemberg, Suhl in Thuringia, Bramsche in Lower Saxony, Trier in Rhineland-Palatinate and Heidenau in Saxony.

Police in North Rhine-Westphalia have been called to nearly 1,000 incidents in August alone, prompting Rainer Wendt, the head of DPolG, Germany's second-largest police union, to say officers are "facing the greatest challenge in post war history."

Many are now calling on migrants and refugees to be separated according to their religion, with interior minister Thomas de Maizière calling the behavior "unacceptable".

In the state of Thuringia, there has been a spate of arson attacks on hostels housing refugees. An accommodations center in the Gotha district was set on fire as was a gym that was due to take in refugees. Other fires have been reported in other states, including Eichsfeld in Lower Saxony, and Xanten in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The unrest continues as the latest opinion poll for public broadcaster ARD shows 51 percent of people saying they were "afraid" because of the influx of refugees, compared with 38 percent three weeks ago. Hmmm.....If today at the EU meeting the decision is taken to send 400,000 refugess back,  this will be just the beginning of much bigger riots. Read the full story here. Related: Outcry of a young German policewoman - 'Male Muslims have no respect for female cops or Authority'.