'They're NOT refugees, they're migrants after a German life': Hungarian PM claims thousands fleeing war zones should stay in Turkey because they are no longer in danger

• Viktor Orban says many migrants are seeking the 'German life' because they refuse to stay in other safe countries
• Calls on EU to provide financial support to countries such as Turkey so migrants stay there and do not move on
• Germany expects to receive some 800,000 refugees this year and has urged other EU members to open their doors 
• President Francois Hollande said France would take in 24,000 refugees over the next two years to help the burden
• But he warned that without united EU policy to share migrants the borderless Schengen system would collapse

By Keiligh Baker and Simon Tomlinson for MailOnline

Published: 02:43 EST, 7 September 2015 | Updated: 08:54 EST, 7 September 2015

Large numbers of migrants entering Europe should be seen as immigrants, not as refugees, because they are seeking a 'German life' and refuse to stay in the first safe country they reach, Hungary's prime minister said today.

Viktor Orban, a right-wing populist whose robust handling of the migrant crisis has drawn both condemnation and praise, also said the EU should consider providing financial support to countries such as Turkey which are near to the conflict zones so that migrants stay there and do not move on.

Syrians, Iraqis and others entering Greece, Macedonia, Serbia or Hungary are safe in those countries and, in line with EU rules, should have their asylum applications processed there, Orban told a gathering of Hungarian diplomats in Budapest.

'If they want to continue on from Hungary, it's not because they are in danger, it's because they want something else,' he said, adding that the migrants' target was Germany and 'a German life' not physical safety.

His comments came as President Francois Hollande warned that without a united EU policy to share the burden of migrants, the borderless Schengen system would collapse.

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Migrants wait for buses in a makeshift camp in the village of Roszke, Hungary, today, after Austria announced it was withdrawing its emergency measures which allowed 12,000 to enter the country

An Afghan refugee holds a placard reading 'We Afghanistan want freedom' as police officers control migrants at the collection and registration local point for refugees at the Roszke village near the Hungarian-Serbian border

A migrant wrapped in a sleeping bag stands in a makeshift camp at a collection point in the village of Roszke

Hundreds of migrants were forced to set up a temporary home in the makeshift camp in the Hungarian village of Roszke

Migrants stand inside a refugee camp in Roszke, Hungary.  Estimates suggest that up to 5,000 migrants will cross the Hungarian border today

He also accused Britain of 'shirking' its responsibility to take its fair share of the burden, linking the issue implicitly to London's bid to renegotiate its relationship with the EU before a referendum due by the end of 2017.

Hollande said: 'On the issue of refugees, it's true that Britain is not in the Schengen zone and has a certain number of capabilities that are different to Europe. 

'But that doesn't exempt it – and David Cameron has said this himself – from making an effort in terms of solidarity.

'In Calais, these are people who are not looking for asylum in France but to go the UK. Everyone must understand that you can't demand solidarity when there's a problem and shirk your duties when there are solutions.' 

The vast majority of migrants reaching Hungary aim to travel on to Germany and other wealthier western European countries. 

A Bavarian official said Germany expected about 2,500 refugees to arrive by early afternoon on Monday after some 20,000 came in over the weekend.

Chancellor Angela Merkel today described the influx as 'breathtaking' and said it would change the make-up of country.

She said: 'What we are experiencing now is something that will occupy and change our country in coming years.' 

She said Germany will ensure that those who need protection receive it, but that those who stand no chance of getting asylum will have to return to their homes swiftly.

Germany pledged an extra €6billion Monday to help the record numbers of desperate refugees crossing its borders, while vowed to take in 24,000 migrants over the next two years.

But she stressed that Europe's biggest economy isn't willing to shoulder the refugee burden alone, saying: 'Germany is a country willing to take people in, but refugees can be received in all countries of the European Union in such a way that they can find refuge from civil war and from persecution.' 

A mother with her children, who both have their feet bandaged, are accompanied by helpers to a reception centre at the train station in Munich

Migrants arrive make their way to waiting buses after arriving by train at the main railway station in Munich. Chancellor Angela Merkel thanked helpers who dealt with a 'breathtaking' influx of migrants over the weekend but stressed that a European response was urgently needed

Migrants receive medical checks before boarding buses after arriving by train at the main railway station in Munich from Austria

Poilce watch as migrants arrive by train at the main railway station in Munich, Germany after an estimated 20,000 came in over the weekend

Chancellor Angela Merkel today described the influx as 'breathtaking' and said it would change the make-up of country

Left unchecked, this inflow will place an impossible financial burden on the EU, Orban said, endangering what he called Europe's 'Christian welfare states'. 

He has previously said the arrival of large numbers of mostly Muslim migrants posed a threat to Europe's Christian culture and values.

'It's absurd... when the Germans say they will spend billions on providing for the new arrivals instead of giving the money to the countries around the crisis zone, where the (migrants) should be stopped in the first place,' he said.

'It would be better for everyone. They wouldn't come here. It would cost less. And our approach couldn't be called into question morally either.'   

Europe's worst migration crisis since the Balkan wars of the 1990s has led many of the continent's leaders to call for a quota system to distribute refugees among the EU's 28 member states – an idea that Orban opposes. 

While Hungary would remain part of the EU's passport-free 'Schengen zone', Orban said discussion of a quota system was premature.

'As long as Europe cannot protect its external borders it makes no sense to discuss the fate of those flowing in,' he said, adding that he did not rule out a 'fair' discussion of quotas at a later stage.

He defended a planned package of laws that would allow the army to be deployed to defend Hungary's southern border, which he added was being threatened 'perhaps not by war, but by being overwhelmed'.

Orban said he hoped the measures would succeed in 'hermetically sealing' the border, with people crossing at official crossing points only.

Legislation to use the army in helping to protect borders would not be possible before September 20, he added.

Meanwhile, desperate migrants broke down in tears when Austria announced it was planning to bring back border controls after emergency measures allowed 12,000 thousand to enter the country from Hungary over the weekend. 

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said last night that the country will end the emergency measures which allowed migrants stranded in Hungary into Austria since Saturday. 

Austria suspended its random border checks after photographs of a Syrian toddler lying dead on a Turkish beach showed Europeans the horror faced by those desperate enough to travel illegally into the heart of Europe.

A Syrian refugee child cries as she is squeezed by other refugees at Greece's border with Macedonia near the village of Idomeni this morning

A Syrian refugee father carries his child as he and thousands of other refugees and migrants wait to cross at Geece's border with Macedonia

Other incidents, including one in which 71 people suffocated in the back of a truck abandoned on an Austrian highway en route from Hungary, prompted Vienna to agree with Germany to waive rules requiring refugees to register an asylum claim in the first EU country they reach.

The decision was reached as thousands of frustrated migrants headed from Budapest towards Austria on foot. 

Mr Faymann announced last night that the decision was being revised following 'intensive talks' with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a telephone call with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who had been bitterly opposed to the waiver. 

But there appeared to be no signs of the move this morning.

Police were intensifying checks on suspected human traffickers but otherwise not yet tightening controls on people crossing the frontier from Hungary, a spokesman for police in Burgenland province said, 

'There will still be no border controls. That would be against the Schengen agreement,' spokesman Helmut Marban said, adding checks to catch human smugglers 'will be activated and become more visible'. 

The area was quiet on Monday morning after around 260 migrants crossed over from Hungary before midnight. 

Mr Faymann said: 'We have always said this is an emergency situation in which we must act quickly and humanely. We have helped more than 12,000 people in an acute situation.

'Now we have to move step by step away from emergency measures towards normality in conformity with the law and dignity.' 

Chaos: A police officer hits a man with a baton as he tries to maintain order while migrants wait for trains at a camp near Gevgelija, Macedonia

Migrants and refugees clash with Macedonian police forces as they try to break through a cordon to board a train after crossing the Macedonian-Greek border near Gevgelija

Macedonian police scuffle with migrants as they wait to pass the border from the northern Greek village of Idomeni to southern Macedonia

Migrants break through a cordon of Macedonian police to board a train after crossing the Macedonian-Greek border near Gevgelija

Exodus: Refugees wait to pass the borders from the northern Greek village of Idomeni to southern Macedonia

Meanwhile, German police said a record 14,000 people arrived from Austria over the weekend by late afternoon on Sunday, the majority of them fleeing the civil war in Syria, with some 3,000 more expected to arrive last night.

Hungary sent 100 buses to the border on Saturday night after Austria agreed to the emergency measures, to the relief of thousands of migrants and refugees who found themselves stranded in Budapest after travelling through the Balkans and Greece.

Others set off from a station to make the 110-mile journey on foot.

Germany has said it expects to receive 800,000 refugees this year and has urged other EU members to open their doors.

It decided to free up an additional €3billion for federal states and municipalities to help cope with the influx, a joint statement by the ruling coalition said.

Yesterday, at the train station in Munich, a few dozen well-wishers turned up to cheer the newly arrived migrants, many of whom spoke of weeks of arduous travel by land and sea.

The president of the Upper Bavarian government, Christoph Hillenbrand, said he expected 13,000 migrants to reach the city on Sunday, up from a previous estimate of 11,000, following 6,800 arrivals on Saturday. 

Mr Hillenbrand said that 11,000 could arrive today and warned Munich is already running out of capacity. 

Hundreds of migrants line-up to catch a train near Gevgelija, Macedonia after spending a night in a provisional camp

Police try to stop migrants crawling under a fence to board a train at a station near Gevgelija, Macedonia

Migrants walk through a temporary camp near Gevgelija, Macedonia, this morning. Several thousand migrants in Macedonia boarded trains on Sunday to travel north after spending a night in a provisional camp

Authorities there were using a disused car showroom and a railway logistics centre as makeshift camps, and were adding a further 1,000 beds to 2,300 already set up at the city's international trade fair ground. About 4,000 people were sent to other German states.

'It's getting tight,' Hillenbrand told reporters at the train station.

Merkel's decision to allow the influx has caused a rift in her conservative bloc, with her Bavarian allies saying she had pushed ahead without consulting the federal state administrations dealing with the problem on the ground.

The political rift is greater across Europe, with Hungary's Orban accusing Berlin of encouraging the influx.

'As long as Austria and Germany don't say clearly that they won't take in any more migrants, several million new immigrants will come to Europe,' he told Austrian broadcaster ORF. 

Orban has used the crisis to claim he is defending Europe's prosperity, identity and 'Christian values' against a tide of mainly Muslim migrants.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen accused Germany of looking to lower wages and hire 'slaves'.

Hungary, the main entry point for migrants into Europe's borderless Schengen zone, plans to seal its southern frontier with a new, high fence by September 15. 

A migrant searches for clothes at Keleti railway station in Budapest. Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Hungary has no plans to shoot at migrants trying to cross its southern border fence and is open to talks about EU quotas for taking in refugees once the frontier is sealed off

Migrants sift through donated clothes at Keleti train station in Budapest as thousands more refugees enter Europe

The United States came under pressure to do more to help. 

David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee and a former British foreign secretary, called on Washington to bring out 'the kind of leadership America has shown on these kind of issues' in the past.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a call by opposition leader Isaac Herzog to give refuge to Syrian refugees, saying the country was too small to take them in. 

Gulf states Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have come under criticism for officially taking in zero refugees.

Some EU states say the focus should be on tackling the violence in the Middle East that has caused so many to flee.

Warm welcome: Supporters hold posters and balloons for a group of refugees arriving at a former army barracks, now serving as emergency shelter for migrants, in Berlin, Germany. Some 350 migrants arrived at the shelter after travelling via Hungary and Austria to Germany

A migrant girl smiles as she looks out of the window of a train bound for Munich via Vienna at the railway station in Hegyeshalom, Hungary

FIVE PEOPLE INJURED AFTER FIRES BREAK OUT AT TWO REFUGEE SHELTERS IN GERMANY OVERNIGHT

Five people were injured when a fire broke out at a refugee shelter in Germany early today, one of two such blazes to hit migrant emergency accommodation overnight, police said.

Police were investigating the causes of the fires which came after a spate of arson attacks against refugee homes amid a record influx of people fleeing war and poverty.

One of the fires destroyed dozens of portable homes and forced the evacuation of 80 refugees, in Rottenburg in the western state of Baden-Wurttemberg, said police.

Five people were injured after a fire broke out at this emergency refugee centre in Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany, overnight

Police were investigating the causes of the fire - and another at a asylum centre in Germany overnight - which came after a spate of arson attacks against refugee homes amid a record influx of people fleeing war and poverty

More than 100 firefighters were called to douse the flames.

Five people suffered injuries when they jumped from windows or had to be treated for smoke inhalation.

The other blaze hit buildings scheduled to become shelters in the town of Ebeleben in the state of Thuringia in the formerly communist east, causing no injuries. Police said they did not rule out arson. 

British Prime Minister David Cameron wants to hold a vote in parliament in early October to allow it to join air strikes by a US-led coalition on Islamic State in Syria, London's Sunday Times said.

Le Monde reported that France was also considering joining. 

Meanwhile, former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell urged Mr Cameron to consider sending UK troops to create 'safe havens' for refugees in Syria.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today Programme this morning, he said: 'We need a serious effort to protect the millions of people in what is now a second world country.

'We need to be involved in putting troops on the ground. This is a humanitarian effort. It's important for the UN to help. We have a responsibility to protect these people.' 

A migrant woman holding a baby is squeezed as they try to board a bus following their arrival onboard the Eleftherios Venizelos passenger ship at the port of Piraeus, near Athens

A migrant woman holding a baby waits to board a bus following their arrival onboard a passenger ship at the port of Piraeus, near Athens

In Budapest's Keleti station, migrants and refugees followed handwritten signs in Arabic directing them to trains to Hegyeshalom on the Austrian border, and volunteers handed out food and clothing.

On the frontier, long lines of people, many wrapped in blankets or sleeping bags and carrying sleeping children, got off buses on the Hungarian side and walked across into Austria.

'We're happy. We'll go to Germany,' said a Syrian who gave his name as Mohammed.

But on Hungary's border with Serbia, there were reports that people had spent the night in the rain without food or shelter.

'While Europe rejoiced in happy images from Austria and Germany yesterday, refugees crossing into Hungary right now see a very different picture – riot police and a cold hard ground to sleep on,' Amnesty International researcher Barbora Cernusakova said in a statement. 

Two Syrian migrants sleep on the shore after travelling from Turkish port city of Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos

A part of the dinghy and equipment that a group of migrants used to cross the sea from Bodrum, in Turkey, to the Greek island of Kos

The numbers in Europe are small compared to the almost four million refugees in Syria's neighbours Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.

Pope Francis has called for every European church parish and religious community to take in one migrant family each.

But a poll in the French newspaper Aujourd'hui en France showed 55 per cent of French people opposed to softening rules on granting refugee status.

European leaders are due to expand their list of 'safe' countries to which migrants looking for a better life but not in fear of life and limb can be returned. 

Meanwhile, the flow of people risking the dangerous journey on flimsy boats across the Mediterranean shows no sign of abating as they flee the four-year-old civil war in Syria which has killed 250,000 civilians. 

RIOT POLICE CALLED IN AFTER FIGHTS BREAK OUT AND CLOTHES ARE BURNT AT 'JUNGLE' MIGRANT CAMP IN CALAIS 

Riot Police , firefighters and ambulance crews were rushed to the infamous Calais 'Jungle' last night as fighting broke out and migrants burnt piles of clothes in protest at their conditions.

Trouble began in the' afternoon after Ethiopians began fighting and a man was hospitalised with a broken nose.

Armed riot Police stood by in case of further trouble and at 9pm there was further fighting and migrants piled up clothes and set fire to them.

Migrants at the 'New Jungle' refugee camp in Calais where thousands congregate before launching attempts to reach Britain 

Migrants cling to a truck at the refugee camp in Calais where thousands of people are trying to reach Britain

Fearing that the blaze would spread to dry furze and undergrowth on dunes around the Jules ferry camp firemen protected by Police moved in and extinguished the blaze.

150 kilos of clothes and blankets were said to have gone up in smoke.

Firemen were called in again during the evening after several other fires were started in various parts of the camp where over 3000 Africans and Asians sleep in tents and makeshift huts.

A second man was taken to hospital suffering from injuries understood to have been sustained during fighting .

With increased security and fencing around the ferry terminal and the Eurostar station near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel far fewer migrants than in July and August are succeeding in getting onto trains and ferries bound for the UK.

Even so Eurostar passengers spent hours stuck in the Channel Tunnel last Tuesday with no power and air conditioning after migrants managed to break into the heavily protected Eurostar terminal and clambered onto the roof of a train. 

Others are escaping wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa.

On the Greek island of Lesbos 500 Afghans protesting at lengthy identification procedures scuffled with police over the weekend. 

A ferry took 1,744 migrants and refugees to Athens from Lesbos on Sunday and another one with 2,500 on board was expected later in the day, the coast guard said.

A record 50,000 people arrived on Greek shores in July alone and were ferried from islands unable to cope to the mainland. 

There a government in financial crisis is keen to dispatch them into Macedonia from where they enter Serbia and then Hungary.

More than 2,000 refugees have died at sea in the Mediterranean so far this year. 

The Cypriot coast guard picked up 114 Syrian refugees who were adrift in a fishing boat on Sunday.

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