Migrant arrivals in Greece 'surge' to 7,000 daily
The number of migrants arriving on the Greek islands near Turkey has surged to about 7,000 a day in the past week, migration experts working there say.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the average in late September was 4,500 a day.
Fears of worsening weather may account for the surge, the IOM says.
The EU's migrant relocation scheme got under way on Friday when 20 Eritreans left Italy on a flight to Sweden. Some EU member states object to the scheme.
Meanwhile, Turkey has voiced concern about the potential for even more Syrian migrants arriving at its border because of Russian air strikes in Syria.
Bavaria wants to send refugees back to Austria, Merkel says no
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German state of Bavaria plans "emergency measures" to slow arrivals of asylum seekers, including sending some back to neighboring Austria, state premier Horst Seehofer said, directly challenging Chancellor Angela Merkel over the crisis.
Seehofer says more than 225,000 refugees have arrived in his southern state in less than five weeks and authorities are stretched beyond the limit to house and care for them all.
The Bavarian cabinet will meet on Friday to agree the measures, although legally the state cannot send back refugees as this would be a matter for the federal government in Berlin, where Merkel has refused to cap the number of arrivals.
Seehofer told Bild newspaper that the meeting would examine how to integrate refugees. "On top of that will come specific self-defensive measures to limit migration, such as sending back people to the border with Austria and the immediate transfer of newly arrived asylum seekers within Germany," he said.
Vienna warned of the risk of violence if the government in Bavaria, the main entry point into Germany for asylum seekers moving north through the Balkans and Austria, went ahead with the plan.
"If refugees who wish to remain in Germany are sent back to Austria, then you have to expect riots ultimately," said Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner.
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Sweden expects 150,000 Muslim settlers this year
Sweden's prime minister says preliminary estimates indicate more than 150,000 asylum seekers will arrive in the country this year.
Stefan Lofven said Friday nearly 9,000 people have sought asylum in Sweden in the past seven days alone and the country is preparing for a crisis situation.
Croatia reports huge uptick in Muslim settlers crossing its border from Serbia
Croatian police say nearly 137,000 migrants have crossed from Serbia since mid-September, including 7,798 on Thursday.
Germany reports spike in attacks against incoming Muslim settlers
Germany's interior minister says his office has recorded more than 490 attacks — ranging from arson to racist graffiti — on refugee shelters this year.
Thomas de Maiziere said in an interview published Friday that the number represents "a massive increase of xenophobic attacks against asylum-seekers."
De Maiziere told Berlin's Morgenpost newspaper that two-thirds of suspects were people who lived near the shelters and had no previous criminal record.
His comments came as police in the western city of Hagen said they detained two men aged 23 and 25 on suspicion of carrying out an arson attack against a house used by refugees in the nearby town of Altena.
Hagen police said one of the unnamed men acknowledged being angry at the housing of refugees in his neighborhood.
UN OKs resolution letting EU search, seize smuggling boats in high seas off Libya
The U.N. Security Council has adopted a resolution to authorize the European Union and individual countries to seize migrant-smuggling vessels on the high seas off Libya.
The resolution is under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which means it can be militarily enforced. It also authorizes the EU and individual nations to board vessels "with a view to saving the threatened lives of migrants or of victims of human trafficking." The search-and-seizure operation is authorized for one year.
The resolution says migrants "should be treated with humanity and dignity." Council diplomats say migrants on vessels that are seized would be taken to Italy.
The EU initially wanted a naval operation that could operate in Libyan territorial waters but Libya objected.
The International Organization for Migration says 2,987 migrants have died so far in 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea.
