bbc.com http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34108224

Migrant crisis: Merkel warns of EU 'failure'German Chancellor Angela Merkel: ''We want a fair distribution of refugees''

Migrant crisisGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel says "Europe as a whole needs to move" on how to deal with refugees andmigrants arriving in the EU.

"If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won't be the Europe we wished for," she said.

She was speaking after Austrian authorities arrested five suspected people smugglers along the country's easternborders.

On Thursday, 71 dead migrants were found near the Hungarian border.

Austrian police say more than 200 others were found alive overnight.

Ms Merkel said European countries must share the burden of refugees.

Germany is the main destination for migrants arriving on the EU's eastern borders and expects the number ofasylum seekers it receives to quadruple to about 800,000 in 2015.

Mrs Merkel said "Germany is a strong country - we will manage."

Media caption The rules governing immigration to the EU - explained in 90 seconds

But she said there would be "no tolerance for those who question the dignity of other people" after a spate ofarson attacks on refugee shelters and anti-migrant demonstrations.

"The number of people... helping strangers get through cities and communities and even taking them into theirhomes is far greater than the number of xenophobes," she went on.

Mrs Merkel's call for greater co-operation was echoed by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who warned thatEurope's migrant crisis would be a "long and difficult challenge".

Also on Monday, trains from Budapest carrying hundreds of migrants were stopped at the Austrian frontier.Austria's rail service OeBB said the route from Budapest was facing severe disruption due to "overcrowding".

Austrian police said they would turn back anyone on board who had made a request for asylum in Hungary - but itis not clear if this actually happened.

Once in Austria, migrants would have two weeks to decide whether or not they wanted to claim refugee statusthere, police said.

Trains were later allowed to proceed and hundreds of migrants arrived in Vienna on Monday evening. Many ofthem immediately boarded trains bound for Germany.

Austria also introduced extra checks on vehicles entering from Hungary on Sunday evening, causing long trafficjams on Hungary's major roads leading to the Austrian border.

Image caption Austrian police are checking lorries at Nickelsdorf on the border with Hungary

Image caption

The Austrian checks appear to undermine the EU's Schengen system, which normally allows unrestricted travel.But in exceptional circumstances countries can reintroduce border controls under Schengen.

Austria's Interior Ministry told the BBC the checks would not be necessary if there were an agreement to distributethe migrants fairly.

The head of the European Union's police agency, Rob Wainwright, said catching people smugglers would beeasier with more "effective" border controls but added that the Schengen system had pros and cons.

Five people have been detained in connection with the deaths of 71 people, most of them thought to be Syrians, ina lorry found last week on the A4 at Parndorf.

Austria was shocked by the gruesome nature of the deaths. Thousands rallied on Monday demanding betterrights for migrants.

As well as the bodies in the lorry in Austria, hundreds more people drowned in the Mediterranean last week whiletrying to reach Europe from Libya.

10 days of the migrant crisisCrowds of migrants rush at Macedonian border forces in an attempt to enter from GreeceHundreds of people are feared dead after two boats carrying about 500 migrants sink in the Mediterranean,off Libya. More than 300,000 migrants have risked their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean this year,according to the UNA lorry abandoned near Parndorf in Austria is found to have 71 dead people inside including four childrenTwenty-six migrants are rescued from a van in Austria, near the border with Germany.

A record number of 107,500 migrants reached the EU's borders in July.

The UN says the continuing conflict in Syria is a major factor behind the rise in migrant numbers.

Greece, Italy and Hungary have particularly struggled with the surge of migrants from not only Syria but the rest ofthe Middle East and Africa.

An extraordinary meeting of EU interior ministers is to be held on 14 September.

Media caption The BBC's Damian Grammaticas says every country has a different strategy

Why is EU struggling with migrants and asylum?

Some governments have refused to take in refugees and resisted EU proposals to agree on a common plan.

Others are tightening their policies on asylum and border security, sometimes because of rising anti-immigrationsentiment.

On Sunday France condemned Hungary for building a razor-wire fence along its border with Serbia to try to keepout migrants travelling north from Greece via the Balkans.

UK Home Secretary Theresa May blamed the Schengen system - which the UK did not join - for "exacerbatingtragedies". She has demanded tighter EU rules on free movement.

NOSTRADOMOUSText BoxIssue Debate #1: European Refugee Crisis - A failure of Policy & ActionThe Refugee Crisis in Europe is a symptom of deep rooted failure of policies and actions of World Bodies like the European Union and United Nation Agencies. Discuss.

bbc.com http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34140403

Syria conflict: 'Global failure' to protect refugeesThe inquiry says 2,000 Syrians trying to reach Europe have drowned in the Mediterranean

Syria's warA UN inquiry into the conflict in Syria has criticised the "global failure" to protect the country's refugees, saying ithas fuelled Europe's migrant crisis.

Chairman Paulo Sergio Pinheiro urged the international community to act with "humanity and compassion" bycreating legal channels of migration.

The inquiry's latest report says 2,000 Syrians trying to reach Europe have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.

And the Syrian war, it warns, continues to intensify with no end in sight.

More than 240,000 people have been killed since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted inMarch 2011.

A further four million Syrians have fled abroad and 7.6 million are displaced internally.

Protection space 'shrinking'The Commission of Inquiry on Syria was established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate allegedviolations of international human rights law.

The conflict is "increasingly driven by international and regional powers", investigators found

The report published on Thursday covers events from January to June 2015 and concludes that the violence inSyria is "endemic" and "regrettably proliferating in its scope and extent".

"None of the belligerents seem either close to collapse or positioned to secure an outright military triumph," itsays. "All have secured sufficient support channels, territorial gains and operational capabilities to sustain themfor several more years."

The report says the conflict is "increasingly driven by international and regional powers, primarily in accordancewith their respective geostrategic interests", without identifying them.

Syrian refugees in the region

"The competition among regional powers for influence has resulted, among other consequences, in an alarmingexacerbation of the sectarian dimension, instigated by the intervention of foreign fighters and extremist clerics,"the report warns.

Investigators found jihadist militants from Islamic State (IS) committed "murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery,sexual violence, forcible displacement and other inhumane acts as part of a widespread attack on the civilianpopulation".

Al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's local affiliate, was also "imposing its extremist ideology" in areas it captured in Idlibprovince earlier this year, the report says.

The Syrian government meanwhile continued its indiscriminate aerial bombardment of residential areas across

the country, leading to widespread civilian casualties.

Image copyright AFPImage caption European countries are struggling to respond to the surge in the number of migrants

The report warns that "the protection space for Syrians trying to escape the conflict is steadily shrinking".

As a consequence, it says, many are placing their lives in the hands of smugglers and traffickers, attemptingperilous journeys in unseaworthy boats across the Mediterranean, resulting in the deaths of more than 2,000 infour years.

"The global failure to protect Syrian refugees is now translating into a crisis in Southern Europe. Theresponsibility for the protection of the human rights of these refugees is not being adequately shared orshouldered."

Mr Pinheiro told a news conference in Geneva that 250,000 had sought refuge in Europe, compared with fourmillion in countries neighbouring Syria.

"It is imperative for the world community to act with humanity and compassion by developing legal channels ofmigration that increases the protection space for asylum seekers and refugees," he warned.

theguardian.com http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/07/un-security-council-is-failing-syria-ban-ki-moon

UN security council is failing Syria, Ban Ki-moon admitsThe UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has admitted that the UN security council is failing Syria because of bigpower divisions which have prevented action to end a conflict that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives anddriven the biggest refugee exodus in a generation.

The UN secretary general told that Guardian that Russia and China should look beyond national interest andstop blocking security council action on the conflict in Syria as the flow of refugees to Europe reachesunprecedented levels.

We need some solidarity, unity of purpose, particularly among the permanent members of the security council,he said in an interview. When they are divided, it is extremely difficult for the United Nations to deliver. Thats whyIve been urging the members of the security council to look beyond national interest. We have to look for theglobal interest.

When the security council members are united we have seen very speedy and tremendous impact in addressingthe issues, as we have seen in the case of chemical weapon investigation in Syria.

Although Ban did not name Russia and China, the two countries have on several occasions blocked resolutionscritical of the Syrian government, threatening sanctions or pressing it towards a negotiated settlement. Last year,Moscow and Beijing also vetoed a move backed by the 13 other permanent and non-permament members of thesecurity council to refer the Syrian conflict for investigation by the international criminal court.

Ban had backed the referral to the ICC, saying the Syrian people have a fundamental right to justice.

He has previously spoken of his shame and anger at the international communitys impotence to stop the warin Syria, and said the UNs credibility had suffered as a result.

There are various estimates for the death toll in Syria, extending up to more than 300,000, while about half thepre-war population of 22 million has been uprooted.

The UN high commissioner for refugees has described the exodus of people fleeing the fighting as the largestrefugee crisis in a generation. About 4 million people have crossed into neighbouring countries with almost half ofthose going to Turkey. Tens of thousands have made the difficult and often dangerous journey to Europe.

The UNHCR said nearly 350,000 Syrians had applied for political asylum in Europe since the war began.

In August, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, said he was confident Russia would continue to back hisregime.

We have strong confidence in the Russians, as they have proven throughout this crisis, for four years, that theyare sincere and transparent in their relationship with us, he said in an interview with Hezbollahs al-Manartelevision network.

Assad described Russia as principled, while the United States abandons its allies, abandons its friends.

Last month, Barack Obama called on Russia and Syrias principal regional ally, Iran, to recognise that the trendlines are not good for Assad.

Speaking to the Guardian at the start of an investigative series on the future of the UN as it turns 70 this autumn ,Ban acknowledged that growing demands within the UN for the security council to be reformed.

A lot of interesting ideas have been proposed by the member states and there is widespread feeling and opinionamong member states that considering such dramatic changes in political and security field in the world, the

security council should change also, in a more democratic way, transparent and accountable way, he said.

While there is frustration that international action to try to end Syrias deepening humanitarian crisis is beingblocked by Moscow and Beijing, criticism of the permanent members use of the veto for narrow political interest islongstanding. The US has used its veto to protect Israel from criticism more times than the total number of vetoescast by the other permanent members combined.