Yahoo – AFP, Sören Billing, January 4, 2016
Danish security personnel check travellers IDs at the train station in Kastrup, on January 4, 2015 (AFP Photo/Nils Meilvang) |
Copenhagen
(AFP) - Sweden on Monday imposed controls on travellers arriving from Denmark
in a bid to curb an unprecedented influx of refugees, prompting knock-on
measures from Denmark that triggered fresh concern for Europe's Schengen
passport-free zone.
Hours after
the Swedish controls on a major bridge-and-tunnel link with Denmark went into
effect, the Danish government, which fears being saddled with large numbers of
migrants, announced it would implement spot checks on its border with Germany.
More than
three million migrants are
expected to arrive in Europe by 2017,
according to
the European Commission
(AFP Photo/Aris Messinis)
|
"Freedom
of movement is an important principle -- one of the biggest achievements (in
the European Union) in recent years," German foreign ministry spokesman
Martin Schaefer told reporters.
"Schengen
is very important but it is in danger," he said.
Swedish
Migration Minister Morgan Johansson defended his country's systematic controls,
saying they were aimed at "preventing an acute situation where we can no
longer welcome asylum seekers properly".
The new
measures mean travellers between the neighbouring countries will have to show
their ID cards for the first time since the late 1950s, when a Nordic agreement
on passport-free travel came into force that predates the 20-year-old Schengen
zone.
Domino
effect
Danish
Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen cited the Swedish checks to justify his own
country's immediate introduction of random border controls.
Danish
security staff check passenger
ID's at Kastrup airport's train station
outside
Copenhagen, on January 4,
2016 (AFP Photo/Björn Lindgren)
|
Rasmussen
warned that Sweden's controls could have a domino effect on Denmark, which
received just 21,000 asylum requests in 2015, compared to Sweden's 163,000.
"It's
clear the EU is not able to protect its outer borders and other countries are
going to be forced to introduce ... border controls," he said, adding:
"Europe's leaders must react to this."
Under
Schengen rules, countries are allowed to re-introduce border checks for up to
six months in exceptional circumstances.
On Monday,
extra security staff were on hand at the Danish side of the Oresund crossing, a
major entry point for migrants and refugees hoping to start a new life in
Sweden.
The
controls proceeded smoothly but travellers were warned to expect longer queues
and delays during the early evening rush hour when commuters with jobs in
Denmark return home to Sweden.
Tens of
thousands of journeys are recorded on the bridge each day, including 8,600
people who commute between jobs and their homes in Copenhagen and the southern
Swedish city of Malmo.
Denmark
says it will maintain controls
at the German border for at least 10
days (AFP
Photo/Palle Peter Skov)
|
Under the
new rules, all rail passengers now have to exit the train at Copenhagen
airport's Kastrup station and clear checkpoints before boarding again.
A private
security company at the station could be seen checking and photographing
traveller IDs before allowing passengers on trains.
Officials
at Danish train operator DSB confirmed a small number of people had been turned
away, but would not specify if they were migrants or just commuters lacking
proper ID.
"If
they don't have photo ID then we say sorry, we can't let you on board,"
DSB spokesman Tony Bispeskov said.
Temporary
fencing has also been erected at Kastrup station to prevent people from trying
to sneak onto Sweden-bound trains.
The Oresund
Bridge links Sweden and
Denmark (AFP Photo/Johan Nilsson)
|
The new
measures come after Sweden -- which has taken in more asylum seekers per capita
than any other EU nation -- said it could no longer cope with the unregulated
flow of arrivals.
More than
one million migrants reached Europe in 2015, most of whom were refugees fleeing
war and violence in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the United
Nations refugee agency.
Europe has
struggled to respond to the continent's biggest refugee crisis since World War
II, with several Schengen countries, including Germany, Austria and France,
already re-imposing border checks last year.
Last week
Norway, which is not an EU member but belongs to Schengen, announced it would
start turning back refugees without visas arriving from elsewhere in the
Schengen area, particularly Sweden.
Fresh concern for Schengen as Sweden, Denmark tighten borders https://t.co/AcRT0oiLtE pic.twitter.com/9ObUnIq4EI
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) January 4, 2016
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