Tension Between Migrants Grows Over Europe Asylum Policy
TOVARNIK, CROATIA —
Europe faces the task of processing hundreds of thousands of refugee applications – and identifying those in genuine need of asylum. But there are claims that some migrants are carrying fake Syrian passports – creating tensions with genuine Syrian nationals.
Tens of thousands of migrants have walked along dusty tracks through the cornfields and across Serbia’s border with Croatia in recent days, trying to reach Western Europe. VOA spoke to three Syrian men in their early 20s making that journey.
They asked not to be identified - and were quick to voice anger at some of the other migrants.
“Too many people here have Syrian IDs and passports, and they are not Syrians. They are from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, too many [countries]. And actually I’m really shocked because this is our problem, this is our case,” said one.
UNHCR statistics on EU migrant crisis, Sept. 2015
But Iraqi migrant Sadek told VOA he and his family should be entitled to asylum because they are escaping the Islamic State terror group – known in Iraq as Daesh.
“You must know this information, all of the Europeans. Daesh is not just Syrian, because Daesh is coming from Iraq and Syria, and everyone, they hate everyone,” said Sadek.
Mohamad, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, voiced resentment at the focus on Syria.
"Syrian refugee is, all the process is very easy, but for Afghanistan refugees it is not. All things are for Syrians, not for Afghans," he said.
Who is a genuine refugee fleeing conflict or persecution -- and who is a so-called economic migrant, escaping poverty or looking for a better life?
Hungary, which is building fences on its southern borders to keep out all migrants, wants Europe to enforce the distinction. Zoltan Kovacs is a government spokesman.
“A joint European force that is able to stop illegal migration and establish the form, the protocol by which we are able to separate genuine refugees who are in real need of shelter from those who are only economic migrants,” said Kovacs.
European leaders plan to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis Wednesday. Many say part of any solution will be identifying the genuine refugees, but migration experts say the distinction is rarely black and white.
Europe Migrant Crisis - Sept. 21, 2015
1/11A full-page advertisement by the Hungarian government that was published in Lebanese newspapers in Beirut, warning migrants not to enter the country illegally saying it is a crime punishable by imprisonment. Hungary erected another steel barrier at the Beremend border crossing from Croatia to try to slow the flow of migrants. But they kept coming.
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2/11Hungarian soldiers walk past a razor wire fence that is being built along the border with Croatia near the village of Sarok. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that millions of migrants are "laying siege" to the borders of his country and of Europe, putting the continent in danger.
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3/11Migrants disembark a train that brought them to the Hungarian border, in Botovo, Croatia.
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4/11Volunteers clean a makeshift camp after hundreds of refugees were allowed to cross into Slovenia at the border station near Obretzje.
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5/11A girl looks out from a window of a bus which will transport migrants and refugees to a camp, after they were registered by authorities in Brezice, Slovenia.
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6/11A policeman gives written instructions to migrants as they cross the border from Slovenia to Bad Radkersburg, Austria.
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7/11A migrant waits in a wheelchair after crossing the border between Hungary and Austria in Nickelsdorf, Austria, 70 kilometers (43 miles) southeast of Vienna, Sept. 20, 2015.
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8/11Volunteers clean up a train station in Tovarnik, Croatia.
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9/11Yshar, left, a 36 year-old musician from Iran, reacts on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing with others the Aegean Sea from Turkey on a inflatable dinghy.
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10/11Migrants gather at a stadium used for traditional Kirkpinar wrestling as they wait to march down a highway towards Turkey’s western border with Greece and Bulgaria, in Edirne, Turkey.
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11/11Migrants try to shelter themselves during a rain storm in Victoria Square, where hundreds of migrants and refugees sleep rough, in central Athens, Greece.
