Migrant crisis: Fire breaks out at Slovenian camp

Freezing temperatures and burning tents have heightened the misery of thousands of migrants travelling through Europe.

A fire broke out at a camp for migrants in Slovenia, the current gateway to Austria and beyond.

The cause of the fire at the camp in Brezice, on Slovenia's border with Croatia, is not clear, but migrants had been lighting fires outside their tents because of the cold weather.

Firefighters extinguished the flames, which consumed several tents, while women and children were evacuated from the camp.

Many of those at the Brezice camp arrived at night after wading or swimming across the Sutla River in temperatures close to freezing.

Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia have struggled to cope with the number of migrants travelling through the Balkans.

The situation has been made more difficult by Hungary erecting fences protected by razor wire, police and soldiers on its southern borders, forcing migrants to find new routes to west Europe.

Hungary closed its border with Serbia on September 15th and secured its border with Croatia on Saturday.

Since then, more than 20,000 migrants have entered Slovenia from Croatia, with thousands more on their way.

Slovenian politicians have granted more powers to the army to work with police in managing the migrant influx along the borders of the small Alpine nation.

Hundreds of migrants also pushed into Croatia after spending the night out in the open in freezing cold, waiting to cross the border from Serbia.

Croatian police had deployed on the boundary to stop them but they moved away.

“I am sorry for Europe,” said Iraqi migrant Ari Omar in a field in Rigonce, Slovenia, on the border with Croatia.

“We did not think Europe is like this. No respect for refugees, not treating us with dignity. Why is Europe like this?”

UN refugee agency officer Francesca Bonelli said about 3,000 migrants were waiting there overnight, including small children, the elderly, people in wheelchairs and many who are sick and exhausted.

EU summit

Meanwhile, the European Union’s executive summoned leaders of the countries on the migrant trail to a summit in Brussels on Sunday in an effort to better coordinate the flow from one country to another.

A statement from EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s office said the summit is a response to “a need for much greater cooperation, more extensive consultation and immediate operational action”.

The nations invited to attend are EU member states Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia, and non-EU countries Macedonia and Serbia.

“The objective of the meeting will be to agree common operational conclusions which could be immediately implemented,” the EU Commission statement said.

PA