You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Border checks on a bridge linking German town of Freilassing and Austria began a year ago; migrants who did get across have been met with hospitality as well as hostility the border in effect became obsolete: only a short white line in the middle of the motorway bridge still marks the division between the two countries But a year ago this month, the Freilassing bridge once again become a symbol of the barriers between nations and cultures. At lunchtime on Saturday 5 September 2015 – a day after Germany’s Angela Merkel and the then Austrian chancellor had decided to accept thousands of refugees stranded at Budapest central station – it was here that about 400 refugees on board a train got their first glimpse of Germany Police check migrants in September 2015 in Freilassing Photograph: Guenter Schiffmann/AFP/Getty ImagesAnd it was on Freilassing bridge that a week later thousands of refugees found themselves stranded once again after Germany’s interior minister reintroduced border checks that continue sporadically to this day leading to tumultuous scenes that have left the border town divided in more ways than one remembers returning from his night shift as a hospital nurse in the early hours to find hundreds of people camped outside his home on the Bavarian bank of the Saalach Rainer Borchers disillusioned at the main parties’ response to his concerns about immigration Photograph: Jens Schwarz/the Guardian“These people were in a lot of need: they were exhausted my toilet and gave pregnant women a chance to rest in my camper van.” after which he grew critical of the situation on his doorstep He claimed he was spat at and threatened with a knife when handing out bottles of water and one night heard shots on the bridge – police insist the banging sound was created by a van running over a traffic cone “Generators were running 24 hours a day and made my bedroom vibrate and as a carer it’s not like I earn €5,000 a month.” Borchers said he remembered “positive moments” from his week of volunteering but in the coming weeks he became more and more disillusioned “I’ve never had anything to do with politics but I called the Social Democrats to complain but none of them would listen to me.” Then he called a nearby branch of Germany’s new rightwing anti-immigration party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) the AfD held a demonstration with more than 1,000 protesters and several hundred counter-demonstrators against Merkel’s “illegal” management of the crisis “My neighbourhood is divided between left and right – there’s nothing in between Mayor Josef Flatscher said descriptions of Freilassing as a town divided were “completely over the top” a member of the conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union party was driving back from a family holiday in Italy when he heard the news of the resumption of border checks between Austria and Germany on the radio But when he drove across the bridge into his hometown an hour later local police set up makeshift patrols in the middle of the bridge they were replaced with members of the national police force who still carry out sporadic border checks Flatscher said: “I feel reassured about the situation in Freilassing but of course we are keeping an eye on the broader macroclimate,” pointing to news of 6,500 migrants being rescued off the Libyan coast in a single day this week But next time we’ll know how to deal with the situation.” Syrian refugees Adel and Amar in front of the city’s refugee accommodation last month Photograph: Jens Schwarz/the GuardianThe experience of the renewed traffic jams at the bridge “made us realise how great it is to live in a Europe without borders We should talk about that more often.” While he would not put his name to Angela Merkel’s credo throughout the crisis – Wir schaffen das or “we will manage” – he didn’t disagree with her either Having arrived in Germany in November 2014 the 21-year-old Syrian shares a room with three other young men on the ground floor of a spacious three-storey house with a little garden and several large trees in the front home to 60 refugees who have been located here while their asylum applications are being processed the other side for refugees who speak other languages when about 1,500 refugees arrived on the bridge from Salzburg every day Misho had already been in Germany for almost a year and spoke basic German “So I went to the bridge to support volunteers who distributed food and clothes and to help with translations Both German officials and refugees seemed grateful when I helped but a few times it turned out that the presumed Syrians didn’t speak any Arabic at all but certainly not from Syria as they had claimed.” Migration registrations in Germany from August 2015 to July 2016Since then the number of arrivals has dropped considerably According to Germany’s federal refugee agency no more than 40 refugees and migrants a day arrive at Freilassing’s reception centre “We are lucky here in our house with the refugees as there is some green space in front and we all get along well with each other I am still really grateful to Germany that I can be here and there are a lot of people in town who are happy to help us.” “A few times people have even told me that I shouldn’t be here But then I always just answer them in German and then they are intimidated and confused by the fact that I speak German Misho is starting a new job in a restaurant at Chiemsee Yet not every refugee who made it across the Freilassing bridge has reason to be hopeful Alhough police on the bridge currently only carry out sporadic spot checks border control has in effect been moved inland to the reception centres where refugees and migrants first arrive Police at the bridge checkpoint on the Saalach river last month Photograph: Jens Schwarz/the GuardianThose who cannot show a passport or show an intention to apply for political asylum are sent back across the border to Austria – in August German police returned 300 migrants from Freilassing to Salzburg many of them are either forced to stay in Austria against their will or have to try to make their way back across the Saalach river at another crossing “In Freilassing it may feel like the refugee crisis has stopped – in Salzburg it is now starting,” said Karl-Heinz Müller a 77-year-old pensioner based in nearby Fridolfing who played a key role during the tumultuous weeks of September last year As the weather turned at the end of the month Müller recalled seeing mothers with their babies waiting on the bridge for days on end unwilling to move for fear of losing their place in the queue “I was so immensely sad about our collective inertia.” who used to run an analytical science company that specialised in inventing new techniques to separate chemicals decided that “since you couldn’t rely on the police he drew a fat A on the wrists of the first 10 people in the queue one of the local papers likened Müller’s system to the Nazis marking up Jewish prisoners in a concentration camp “All we were trying to do was to create a just The deputy mayor of Salzburg eventually donated boxes full of colourful wristbands normally used at political rallies during which he often slept for little more than two to three hours a night in a makeshift bed in one of the camps drawn between sympathy for anyone trying to make their way into Germany and understanding for those who are worried about the long-term effects of immigration “You have to respect everyone who doesn’t want more refugees but only if the population at large is involved in the process.” “Someone has to keep the story of what happened here last year alive.” Home/FireRescue BERLIN (AP) — Authorities in southern Germany say efforts to put out a fire on a train turned into a spectacular chase early Friday after the driverless diesel engine began taking off toward Austria of its own accord Firefighters had been called to put out a train blaze near the village of Strass at about 3 a.m But shortly before they arrived the engine started moving downhill on the sloping track picking up speed as it rolled several kilometers (miles) toward the town of Freilassing A video posted online by the Freilassing Volunteer Firefighting Company showed flames and smoke pouring from the train as it swept through the town railway officials managed to switch the “ghost train” onto a side track near Freilassing station where it was stopped by a buffer before it could cross the border The fire was extinguished and nobody was injured the Bavarian Red Cross said in a statement migrants and refugees from Syria and other lands had survived deadly sea crossings into Europe and endured long hikes under a sweltering sun they were stuck in the cold rain on a bridge over the Salaach River “I just want to go to the end of the bridge wearing a donated parka and a plastic rain poncho on the bridge on the Austria-Germany border last week But Germany is no longer offering quite the celebratory welcome that it did they can screen newcomers more carefully and find shelters for them Migrants said they have waited as long as two days to cross the bridge a small Bavarian city that shares a border with Austria German police said last week that they were accepting about 20 migrants at a time from the bridge where the pedestrian walkway has transformed into a tent city Police said they slowed the process to conduct an initial screening of the migrants and refugees were also physically searched and fingerprinted Many migrants had crossed through other countries without such screening often under full view of officials who encouraged them to keep going “The checks on the border take time,” said Manfred Ludwig About 1,000 migrants were arriving daily in Freilassing police said they found and confiscated a few knives and last week they arrested at least two men they said were fugitives from the law One man from Lebanon was wanted for robbery and violence against women Police declined to comment on why the other man was arrested waiting to enter the country and begin a new life said he was desperate to move his family someplace warm he kept them in a plastic-covered tent on the sidewalk to shelter them from the rain and stood guard outside to keep their place in line wait.’ But my father and mother are very old many migrants could not contain their joy at seeing Germany for the first time a 17-year-old from Mazar-el-Sharif in Afghanistan a 26-year old former health care worker from Syria who fled to Germany after he was shot during the civil war They had not seen each other for nearly two years since she and their 8-year-old daughter crossed into Europe on a rubber raft a German town about 250 miles away from the bridge like other refugees he had been taking German classes and trying to build a new life police let his wife use the Internet to contact him declining to give his full name because he said his family still faces threats in Syria Volunteers from Austria and Germany tried to keep up the migrants’ spirits as they waited handing out hats and cups of tea and chocolate bars “We want to show them that they are welcome,” said David Erabor Despite Germany’s official embrace of the newcomers in neighborhoods throughout the nation the adjustment is sometimes jarring a man named Markus said he was alarmed when a massive pod-like tent housing 300 refugees suddenly appeared on a former airfield behind his neighborhood of condos and bike paths “You have no way to say anything about it because if you start to Mosques have been attacked in Germany; over the summer vandals set fire to a shed next to a mosque in Munich But Germans say overall efforts are focused on welcoming the migrants Mosques are inviting them to dinners and prayers A soccer team offered a free clinic for migrant youths And the government typically provides asylum seekers with aid At the train station and on the bridge last week in Freilassing most migrants were not sure what they would do next in Germany A woman from Syria about to be photographed by police burst into tears said he did not sleep for two days because he feared losing his place in line on the bridge Trains carrying thousands of bleary-eyed migrants and refugees from Syria and other nations sped to this small border town this week unloading passengers onto an open-air platform where they squinted and shivered in the cold autumn light “Is this Austria?” migrants asked over and over “We know in Austria we will be safe,” said Sal a newlywed from Syria who held his wife’s hand as they walked briskly to the border more than 15,000 migrants have streamed over the Hungary-Austria border Many had been caught in a bizarre international conflict after Hungary closed its southern border Migrants were then forced to head into Croatia then temporarily shut its borders and shipped migrants out on buses and trains Officials in Hungary complained loudly but ultimately relented and let the migrants pass through on their way to Austria and then Germany and other nations But Hungarian police made sure the migrants left quickly Hungarian police closely followed Mohamad J. and walked with his wife and 55-year-old aunt from the train station into the neighboring town of Nickelsdorf in Austria His wife was suffering from an infection and had not been able to bathe for six days They said they came to Europe because of Sara She was sleeping when the Syrian government dropped a barrel-bomb — a barrel full of oil and explosives — near their house The doctor who diagnosed her with a bleeding brain fled to Germany they feared the child would not survive if they stayed Hungary has fumed over the influx of roughly a half million migrants and refugees into Europe this year saying they present a security threat and competition for jobs And right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban this week has blasted the influx of Muslims and claimed that migrants are “breaking” down their doors But critics say the dispute over migrants — and Hungary’s hard line, which a UN official called shocking and xenophobic — is fraying European unity and the concept of open borders that until recently allowed for seamless passage from Hegyeshalom into Austria European Union officials met to find a way to resolve the crisis United Nations officials say European countries should work together to grant asylum to migrants and refugees who are in danger while protecting Europe’s borders from security threats the train into Hegyeshalom dropped off Mohamed Daod who said he had worked as an interpreter for the US military His body is plastered with pro-US military tattoos that made him an easy target for extremist groups He also wore a metal bracelet in memory of Army Corporal Nicholas Arvanitis He said the troops nicknamed him Elvis and encouraged him to apply for a visa to the United States Daod paid $10,000 this month to get smuggled into Europe by land through Bulgaria “I didn’t think they would leave me behind,” he said of the US military a 45-year-old jewelry designer and Christian said he was the last of his family left in Syria when he fled on Sept but he said he doubted America would take as many refugees as Europe When the refugees left the Hegyeshalom train station in recent days none of the residents in this small town of quaint cottages with chimneys greeted them as residents have in other cities Hungarian police ordered a group of men and a couple of women who tried to sit down to rest to keep going saying “Go” in English — a language many migrants speak — and making sweeping motions with their hands Police also ordered one man who limped with a leg injury to keep walking The man raised his hand to an officer for help climbing over a small incline Asked why they were moving people who said they were tired the migrants found a warm welcome from the Red Cross and a group of volunteers from Hungary a college student and one of the volunteers said she drove from Austria to the border after stumbling upon migrant children and adults sleeping on the street in Hungary while she was on vacation She said she helped them find a place to stay which provided her a glimpse into their former lives some had been students or professionals in Syria and Afghanistan and photos showed them dressed up for work or for a night out “These guys just had a normal life and now they’re sitting here with no food and nowhere to sleep.” is a barren border crossing where military and the police have set up a way station for migrants trying to hurry them to their destinations Military officers are spooning out mushroom soup and loading migrants onto dozens of buses to take them closer to Germany and other countries Nickelsdorf is not a place the migrants want to stay long with reeking porta-johns and a vast parking lot piled high with garbage the migrants left behind He and his new wife fed each other granola bars and admired their new wedding rings “I know it won’t be perfect,” he said of Austria and beyond “But the look in their eyes is different.” With her swollen feet crammed into dusty shoes the hairdresser from Syria took a moment to rest in the garden Her son played on the house’s lawn as other migrant families gathered on light blankets Then the homeowner pulled her car into the driveway and half-whispered in Croatian: “Catastrophe.” and the other migrants and refugees back to the garbage-strewn streets of this border town in Croatia still far from their destination in northern Europe Though the trek is rough on all the migrants physicians and aid workers say families — particularly women and the elderly — present a special concern families hike long distances in scorching heat — and shiver at night as temperatures drop Doctors say more children are developing fevers Exhausted mothers are struggling to breast-feed and many do not have safe places to bathe and sleep said research showed that 1 in 4 migrant children who passed through Serbia last week were traveling without their parents or had been separated from their families raising concerns that they would be vulnerable to human trafficking or sexual assault The United Nations and others are urging European nations such as Hungary and Macedonia to speed the migrants’ passage to Germany and other welcoming countries in northern Europe saying they are putting children at risk of harm Children are among the 2,900 people who are missing or who drowned this year in the sea trying to cross into Europe from Turkey and nations in Africa the United Nations blasted Hungary for firing tear gas and water cannons at a crowd that included children A doctor who was there told the Globe that the gas was also directed at children Imagine kids seeing war by bullets and bombs,” said Babar Baloch which protects refugees and has blasted Hungary and other European nations for failing to manage the influx “We’re seeing the level of misery at its highest.” The United Nations says more than 442,000 migrants they are seeing women and children on a route that had historically been dominated by men The United Nations estimates that more than half of the 4 million Syrian refugees worldwide are women and children Kharma said she was tear-gassed by Hungarian police last week while trying to cross into the country from Serbia on her way to Norway Kharma and thousands of others were loaded into buses and rushed east to Serbia’s border with Croatia where they crossed legally until Croatia said it was overwhelmed and temporarily closed its border last week Then authorities watched as the families were forced to cross through cornfields and down dirt paths buses of migrants pulled up at a dirt road in Serbia and accompanied those on foot for a few miles into Croatia struggled down the paths in the scorching heat clad in long garments in keeping with their religious modesty Passing cars kicked up thick clouds of brown dust a woman from Iraq plowed through the cornfields carrying a duffel bag “We need safe,” she said when asked why she left Iraq a 16-year-old girl named Sham sat in the middle of the path They said they were from Iraq but then changed their minds and said they were from Syria Syrians are widely viewed as more sympathetic Croatian police standing around the corner headed toward the girl to help The United Nations says they have offered translators and other aid to Croatia and other countries to help with the influx of migrants but said the country has not taken full advantage of it Croatia appeared unprepared for the sudden influx of migrants this week The United Nations refugee agency said the safety of women and children is a major concern an orthopedic surgeon from Spain who works with Doctors without Borders said women as many as eight months pregnant are making the trip He said the nonprofit has seen recent refugees as old as 82 and as young as 8 days old Other volunteers say women are frustrated by the lack of privacy and many women are afraid to use the bathrooms and other relatives who sat on a filthy road next to a row of garbage bags police decided to put the migrants on buses again though their destination was not always clear and parents struggled to keep hold of their children Some said the buses were going to Hungary; others said they went to other countries Only women and the children,” one Croatian officer called repeatedly Friday night as migrants boarded buses some 4,000 migrants are arriving daily in Greece said she had not been able to bathe or wash her clothes in a long while She was in line for the bus out of town but unsure when her turn would arrive she stayed close to the Doctors without Borders tent the nonprofit set up a play tent under rainy skies where children could play with blocks or draw pictures as their parents waited in line for a bus said the nonprofit doesn’t tell the children what to draw but many drew homes — in big apartment buildings “Often it turns out that they draw what makes them happy,” she said The doctor begged Amjad to wait until he had recovered from surgery to join the thousands of refugees flowing toward Germany the 37-year-old shop owner from Syria limped over the dusty border from Greece and into Macedonia His wife and two children are still in hiding in Syria showing a reporter his two children’s photographs on his phone and the gauze bandage on his abdomen from the surgery He asked not to use his last name because his relatives are still in Syria and other unstable nations continued to pour into Macedonia this week propelling themselves on donated water and light meals toward Germany and other nations offering shelter more Syrians are seeking sanctuary in Europe Sources: United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees They may have survived the perilous crossing from Turkey to Greece which has claimed thousands of victims this year which they start planning almost as soon as they land and the migrants’ own exhaustion conspire to slow them down And they know that much worse conditions may lie ahead said he and his travel companions watched in horror on YouTube as Hungarian police cracked down on migrants “We are so angry,” he said while waiting for the ferry to mainland Greece the next step in a journey that would take him to Macedonia Conditions in Hungary would soon worsen with media reports of border guards hitting refugees drawing condemnation from the United Nations Other migrants along the route wrestled with similar fears of clashing with authorities or getting lost a volunteer dropped a man named Ali Farkame and his wife Mariam at the Athens train station train to a city near the northern border with Macedonia Farkame struggled to focus and his wife kept crying a 26-year-old passenger named Pillati Petro reassured Farkame that he was on the right train counting off Farkame’s next destinations on his fingers — Macedonia until Farkame flashed the thumbs-up sign that he understood his parents toiled longer hours in the tobacco fields and lived in a tiny flat Petro is a college graduate who speaks several languages and hopes to apply to Rutgers University to earn an MBA “In the end it was better for us,” Petro said For thousands of migrants who arrived in Macedonia on Wednesday Last month the scene at the border of northern Greece and Macedonia was chaotic and frightening with border guards clashing with refugees trying to cross on their way to Germany Photos showed the guards holding riot shields as children wept a Syrian man drowned in a river while hiking to the northern border police said migrants were not allowed to ride the bus all the way to the line United Nations officials said police on both sides of the border were cooperating better police allowed buses to drop off passengers closer to the border Refugees and migrants walked a short distance past fields to the train tracks the riot shields lay unused against trailers as camouflage-clad special forces ushered the migrants across a garbage-strewn field to a camp where the United Nations and the Red Cross offered food Some police even shook migrants’ hands and tried to cheer them smile,” said one Macedonian police officer but now the camp sees 6,000 to 8,000 newcomers a day field officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Leonelli said some migrants have suffered mild heart attacks with some close to delivering their babies “You see that it’s people that need to move,” Leonelli said They’re not used to this kind of situation.” who said his family was fleeing violence in Syria stood hollow-eyed in line under a blistering sun at the Macedonia border with his wife who stumbled and fell on the dirt path as they crossed the border Ibrahim’s elderly father tried to keep busy by helping mothers fix broken wheels on strollers The Ibrahim family and hundreds of others received temporary permission to stay and apply for asylum in Macedonia Macedonia is a poor nation of 2 million people with roughly 30 percent unemployment said as he waited in the 80-degree temperatures were red-faced and crying despite their parents’ efforts to cool them He brightened when he said his family planned to join relatives in Norway migrants with legal papers were allowed to leave for buses Those without papers had to wait for the train the train to Serbia was supposed to arrive at 1 p.m. though it’s unclear if they were ever found Most waited in crowded tents near the train tracks They cheered when a freight train rumbled by a battered orange and mustard-yellow train using megaphones with help from Arabic speakers and tried to make sure that nobody rushed in and got hurt After Serbia the migrants still had to decide whether to try to cross into Croatia or Hungary media reports said both countries had closed their borders to migrants passing through even the Macedonian border guards looked wiped out “It’s so horrible,” a special forces officer said lighting a cigarette as passengers waved goodbye a rubber dinghy floated in with men singing verses from the Koran The voyage from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos was supposed to last 30 minutes covering their shoes and then their ankles who asked not to be identified because he still has family in Damascus said he and his friends frantically bailed water from the boat the smugglers had hid the group in the woods and forced them to carry the boat for several hours to the launching point in Turkey he realized he had lost his wallet to the sea and would have to pay for part of the journey He explained: “I have my friends with me.” hot walk from their boat’s landing on Lesbos a few dozen migrants and refugees discovered the bus did not arrive until the next day Instead of starting the next leg of their journey to Germany and other welcoming nations that night and other countries set up camp in the in the fishing town of Skala Sykaminias a group of men lighted a bonfire of cardboard boxes and paper scraps to dry off People hung wet clothing from the trip on guardrails to dry They filled water bottles at a fountain and bought cheese Families sat on the stone streets and fed their children Brothers Ali and Saleh sat together on the street They had lived apart for nearly two years since Ali fled Syria in 2013 to work as a chef in Turkey and send money home But when the civil war intensified -- Syrians say the government and the extremist Islamic State are both terrorizing civilians - they decided to flee to Europe Both said they were grateful to Germany’s chancellor who agreed to take in 800,000 refugees this year But they were incredulous that President Obama pledged to accept 10,000 people On Monday morning in the two refugee camps on Lesbos children giggled as they twirled on a crooked merry-go-round A woman washed a boy’s hair with a bottle of water A man disfigured by war injuries walked unsteadily down a path to a tent Migrants and refugees are constantly pouring in to the refugee camps to register with Greek authorities before taking the ferry to the mainland on the next leg of their trip president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee arrived at the camps on Monday to urge wealthier countries such as the United States he said the United States should accept 100,000 refugees instead “The Syrian crisis has been too often in the last four or five years the forgotten crisis It’s been the crisis that no one wants to talk about,” he said The next day he got on an airplane and headed back overseas to explain again what he had seen in Lesbos He was a 17-year-old student facing compulsory military service in Syria “I don’t want to kill anybody,” said Abdullah he stood at the main port on the Greek island of Lesbos to wait for a ferry trip to mainland Greece and then He had dreamed of landing in New York or Washington and becoming a teacher or a lawyer But English-speaking countries are taking far fewer refugees than say he said he had a girlfriend who helped him escape the Army but he said she died two years ago during the war “I believe that she’s in a better place,” he said Halfway across the channel between Turkey and Greece On suddenly rough seas and amid a bank of light fog mothers struggled to hold onto shrieking children who was fleeing threats from terrorists and feared for his family back home made it to this island’s shores Saturday — greeted by the incongruous scene of seaside tourists sipping white wine and eating salads But it is a measure of their desperation that refugees are still braving uncertain waters to reach Europe despite growing roadblocks along their journey and the threat of drowning that has claimed thousands of lives in the past two years About 500,000 migrants and refugees from Syria and other lands have fled to Europe this year And they are arriving in the greatest numbers on Lesbos a picturesque island of stone streets and olive groves where many Greek-Americans in New England have roots Thousands of discarded life jackets clutter the rocky beaches and refugees slog for miles on the winding dirt roads into town hoping to register with Greek authorities before heading to Germany or another nation willing to accept them For Greeks already dealing with a economic crisis “What you realize is you have a lot,” said Andrea Sarris a Greek-American who lives on Lesbos but grew up in Dover “While we psychologically have gone through a lot in Greece Few Syrian refugees have made it to Massachusetts The United States has accepted just 1,600 refugees from Syria since the unrest began four years ago the United States pledged to take 10,000 more over the next fiscal year But the International Rescue Committee says 10,000 refugees arrive on Lesbos each week and Monday urged the United States to accept 10 times more by the end of 2016 Four million refugees have fled Syria alone — a number larger than the entire population of Connecticut — since a brutal civil war broke out after peaceful prodemocracy protests in 2011 6 nautical miles across the Aegean Sea from Lesbos 2,000 refugees arrive daily along the northeastern coast according to the International Rescue Committee The point on Lesbos closest to Turkey is Skala Sykaminias a fishing and farming village with a quaint marina where tourists sip strong coffee as fishing boats bob nearby the refugee boats arrived at first light Saturday — and kept coming all day as the fishermen headed out into the Aegean one of the first refugee boats was speeding toward shore the occupants of the overcrowded boat poured onto the beach Passengers laughed and snapped photos with the driver Smugglers charge refugees as much as $1,800 apiece for the one-to-two-hour journey — which can take much longer if it goes awry — but the “captains” are often other refugees who cannot sail or swim changed into a dry shirt: a Boston Celtics jersey a stout fisherman named Dimitris Karapanagiotis scanned the horizon for boats He spends all day waving life jackets to guide the boats to shore so he can grab their engines and then resell them for cash saying the authorities should confiscate them instead “The criminals are the politicians for doing this,” Karapanagiotis and a group of Afghan students from an all-boys school in Kabul They huddled to figure out what to do next Afghanistan is so chaotic and poor that the life expectancy is less than 50 years He said his family borrowed money from a rich man to send him here We are compelled to come here.” He wants to seek asylum — which would give him official refugee status A white-haired man clad in a soaked business suit under his life vest A young Afghan interpreter who spoke English and said he used to interpret for the US Army a rubber dinghy arrived with a group of men from Damascus a city in Syria badly damaged by the civil war saying they feared the repressive government or the Islamic State extremists would harm their families back home One man lifted his shirt to reveal bullet scars in his abdomen and a long scar down his torso Another rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal a round scar on his arm A man named Anwar pointed to a jagged scar on his cheek A friend unwrapped an ACE bandage covering his disfigured right leg Omar turned with his friends and hobbled to town on the dirt road he stripped to his shorts and charged back into the sea a rubber raft veered toward the rocks at the bottom of a steep hill volunteers shouted at those in the boat to aim for the beach Volunteers strained to search for the coast guard a refugee jumped into the water to propel the boat with his legs Others clawed at the sea with their cupped hands a European journalist flew a buzzing camera drone over their heads A man with Parkinson’s disease had been on board an Afghan family of 10 arrived in rough seas and stood soaking wet just steps from a luxury tour bus ferrying Austrian tourists around the island Nobody imagined more refugees would brave the rough seas that night the dinner crowd gathered at elegant outdoor cafes surrounding a tiny marina in Skala Sykaminias looked up from their meals Four fishing boats were hauling in the lifeboat that carried the 70 refugees Onlookers applauded the fishermen as refugees flooded the port shrieking and sobbing and searching for their children A woman in an elegant white dress spotted unattended children hauled off the boat and rushed to hold them for their parents Many on Lesbos worry the migrants and refugees are driving away tourists even though this island has erected statues to honor refugees a Greek woman huddled with her children fleeing war in 1922 authorities quickly swept the newcomers to an alley out of view She tugged on a reporter’s arm to display photos on her telephone from the life they once had She wore a glittering white gown at their wedding four years ago asking that the Globe not reveal their names because their parents are still in Syria Let my daughter grow up in Syria with fighting and bombs and killing MilDef has decided to fully focus its activities on the defense and security domain The motive behind the strategic focus is the strong market conditions in the defense sector which in turn is a result of the steep increase in defense spendings The consequence of the decided direction is that MilDef intends to fully integrate the subsidiary Handheld's portfolio for the defense industry into MilDef's other operations and to cease operations in Handheld's other sales segments “We choose to focus our efforts instead of splitting our focus to strengthen MilDef's long-term competitiveness After the acquisition of roda computer GmbH it is clear that MilDef will prioritize being a significant player in the build-up of defense capabilities that is now underway in Europe and will continue for many years to come it is our intention to focus Handheld's product range entirely on the defense domain and thus integrate the now militarized parts of Handheld's portfolio into MilDef's business,” says Daniel Ljunggren As part of the ambition to streamline MilDef's defense offering Parts of the activities will be moved to MilDef's other premises The measures are expected to reduce MilDef's annual net sales by approximately SEK 70 million while annual cost savings in the Group are estimated to amount to SEK 50 million per year The operational result (EBIT) is expected to improve by approximately SEK 20 million per year The cost savings will be phased in and are expected to start to be visible in the second quarter of 2025 The result for the fourth quarter of 2024 will be impacted with costs for the decided restructuring program and is expected to total approximately SEK 310 million of which approximately SEK 285 million is non-cash affecting The non-cash costs include impairment of goodwill and other Group surplus values directly attributable to the acquisition of Handheld The costs will be reported as restructuring costs and considered as non-recurring items The strategic alignment affects approximately 20 employees in the Group Negotiations with the relevant trade unions will start immediately Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Receive our weekly Newsletterand set tailored daily news alerts Specially developed layers allow specific control of technical properties such as air permeability and breathability Sports/​Outdoor, Protective, Industrial will launch its Purable breathable and waterproof functional barrier membrane system at the forthcoming Techtextil in Frankfurt from June 21-24 It combines vegan-certified or recycled components water-based Topaz Elements seam sealing tapes and an environmentally friendly transfer printing process to enable extremely flexible and sustainable functional textiles to be created Purable’s layers are specially developed solvent-free formulations which allow specific control of technical properties such as air permeability and breathability ensure a comfortable stretch effect and a pleasant soft feel The new system has also proven to have excellent washing properties of more than 50 cycles at 60°C according to ISO 6330 the use of PTFE is completely eliminated without any loss of decisive water vapor permeability the membranes are processed into individual multi-layer composites using the precisely controlled in-house Point-in-Point lamination process and achieve impermeability values of over 10 meters water column In the further functionalisation for weather protection applications such as workwear Trans-Textil uses its proven PFC-free Clean4Green finish which is adapted to the respective laminate composite “With this alternative and environmentally friendly surface finish we are already achieving water repellency that is comparable to conventional fluorine-based formulations,” said the company’s MD Matthias Krings “Tightness against oil and other chemicals is also provided by the membrane system.” For the fashionable design of the functional laminates Trans-Textil uses an environmentally friendly transfer printing process In addition to the individual design options from logo printing to full-colour motifs the technology offers high colour fastness and abrasion resistance Trans-Textil has developed the solvent-free seam Topaz Elements tapes which can be customised in terms of technical properties dimensions and design and are suitable for washing at up to 60°C www.trans-textil.de Aerogels meet new standards for EV batteries UK regional roadshow returns to South West This week's key stories, direct to your inbox.Be the first to know. a spokeswoman for a women's rights organisation said Tuesday.More than 58,000 women living in Germany have had their genitals mutilated Spokeswoman Charlotte Weil said that marked an increase of 10,000 compared with 2015.The group said at least 13,000 additional girls were at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) which is banned in Germany.Weil said that was an increase of 4,000 compared with 2015."It's due to an increased influx from various countries in which FGM is practised many fleeing war and conflict in the Middle East and Africa Some 890,000 had arrived the previous year.Weil added that it was important to educate people in Germany more about the issue and to hold talks with communities that practice FGM to help protect girls at risk.FGM is tolerated in some countries in Africa Asia and the Middle East.Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Alison Williams Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved A challenge from the right in the town of Freilassing threatens German stability a policeman signals to a black BMW with Bulgarian number plates to pull over and two female passengers dressed in leggings and flip-flops duly unload the bulging plastic bags inside and watch with increasing irritation as the police rifle through their contents Set up as a temporary border point near the town of Freilassing in Bavaria the German government now has to reapply to the European commission every six months for the special permission required for it to continue to operate which could yet bring down the German government – ending both politicians’ careers – and drastically shake up Europe’s migration policy at the same time “We are fully aware of the tense political situation and the brutal eye which is being cast on the border controls,” one official who declined to be named, told the Observer. “This is after all about the future of Germany and the future of Europe.” until recently prime minister of Bavaria and head of its ruling party sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats wants to turn back from Germany’s borders any asylum seekers who have already registered in other EU countries saying it is illegal under European law and that she fears the domino effect that turning asylum seekers back could have on the rest of the EU Her aim is to reach a deal palatable to both her and Seehofer Sitting in the local headquarters of the anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland where the windows are decorated with fairy lights in the party’s red and blue colours Karl Halbritter is proudly dressed in traditional lederhosen shorts an embroidered shirt and hiking boots and is rubbing his hands with glee A candidate for the AfD in state elections in October at which he hopes to enter the district assembly Halbritter points to a campaign poster: “The AfD makes good on what the CSU promises.” The CSU was considered the outright ruler of Bavaria for decades, until the AfD stole thousands of voters from it at the federal election last autumn entering the Bundestag for the first time and denting both the CSU’s pride and power It is now threatening to do more damage to the CSU power base in October’s poll He calls the border restrictions that Seehofer is demanding which would require thousands of extra police and a costly technical upgrade “Any human trafficker with half a brain is not going to use the controlled border crossings but take the neighbouring uncontrolled B-roads instead or tell the people he is smuggling to get out of the car in Austria and cross the bridge at a time when everyone knows it’s not being controlled and he’ll simply meet them on the other side,” he says it would simply close the EU’s entire outer border instead of trying to police Germany’s 3,700km frontier German police enforce border checks at the Austrian frontier Photograph: Christof Stache/AFP/Getty ImagesThe mayor of Freilassing for the past 19 years is nostalgic about the days when Bavaria last had a border with Austria before the introduction of Schengen and the free movement of people and goods “I grew up with the border and remember as a 10-year-old smuggling butter from Austria in the mid-1960s,” he says but says he can’t help but see their reintroduction three years ago as a necessity “You’ll find few sensible people who don’t share that view,” he insists “Of course it’s annoying for local people who like to pop over to Austria to the heuriger [wine taverns] or whose businesses benefit from Austrians coming to drink their coffee or buy groceries – all of which are cheaper here – but they will gladly alter their behaviour if it means they feel safer and don’t have the impression that Germany is a cash cow that has to feed the world.” At the time of the refugee crisis Flatscher wrote to Merkel accusing her of having little regard for the impact her insistence on keeping Germany’s borders open had on the 17,000 citizens of Freilassing many of whom took on the burden of coping with the 160,000 refugees who arrived in the town over six months “Merkel never once came here or got in touch to explain how she expected us to manage – we felt very much left in the lurch There is also bitterness at how Freilassing is being used to fuel the far-right cause “We’ve seen anti-immigrant demonstrations organised here where all the participants came from outside The people of Freilassing played no role,” says Rainer Zehentner He resents the fear that he says has been fomented by both the AfD and CSU as well as newspapers like the tabloid Bild “Hardly a day goes by when it doesn’t have a headline like “I’m a murderer and I want asylum in Germany” so from the first feelings of humanity we had towards the refugees two Macedonian-Germans who have been stopped by the police on their way back to Stuttgart show their irritation “The police were friendly enough and tried to be as speedy as possible even if they annoyed me by telling me to put out my cigarette,” says the driver sipping from a can of Red Bull close to the end of an 18-hour trip “But if this is what it takes to protect Germany a medical receptionist and heating engineer from nearby Arzberg who have just pulled into a motorway service station just beyond the border crossing say they switched to voting AfD at the last election “out of revenge” towards the CSU for its failure to control the borders They would like to show their allegiance to the party once again “but the fact is we don’t feel safe,” they say “Our girls are being grabbed from behind by refugees at the local swimming pool It’s not surprising we like the border controls really Angela Merkel has sought to downplay expectations for today’s emergency meeting on migration The informal “mini-summit” for EU leaders in Brussels is being seen as a lifeline for the chancellor amid a bitter dispute over refugee policy between her CDU party and its conservative sister party in Bavaria But after a row with Italy about the point of the meeting Merkel said it was a “consultation” and would yield “no concluding statement” agreed to go to Brussels only after Merkel abandoned a set of pre-written conclusions A pre-cooked summit communique that emerged last week angered Rome: Conte said it neglected the “emergency” of migrant arrivals in Italy Around 41,000 migrants travelled across the Mediterranean in the first six months of 2018 The arrival figures are 51% down on last year and 81% down on 2016 Hungary’s Viktor Orbán said he and leaders of three other central European states would boycott the meeting This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media Here you can see the webcast of the BMW Group Press Conference at the Auto Shanghai 2025 Using VACFLOW is said to reduce investment and series production costs as well as reducing the weight of the completed part significantly Industrial, Packaging, Transport/​Aerospace, Medical/Hygiene Algerian textiles producers on the upswing BTT presents extrusion coating and laminating capabilities at Techtextil 2017 Selective plating and high conductivity in knitted fabrics Welcome to packagingeurope.com. 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Read our policy a leading supplier of plastic processing machines looks back on a successful year in 2016 and has reported substantial growth increases again for 2017 After incoming orders of 2016 developed very positively including the turnover of the daughter companies Mould & Matic Solutions in Austria and SWA in the Czech Republic has increased by 50% to approx Incoming orders rose at the same rate in the first half of 2017 This stabilizes the positive business development and it is already clear: 2017 will be a new record year for Kiefel Incoming orders and turnover have increased in all Kiefel business areas Even though the largest contribution to comprehensive income is made by the packaging sector record results have been achieved in the automotive and medicine fields.  “The order intake of the last year and the resulting sharp increase in turnover this year far exceeded our expectations Also in the current financial year we are expecting a significant increase of sales figures compared to the previous year” from the successful placement of our innovative technologies and systems we have been able to round off our product portfolio with some acquisitions which is family-owned and we belong to for some years now promotes the sustainable development of its companies this has contributed significantly to the success of Kiefel.” there is a clear improvement in the economic situation the region continues to be the most important sales market for Kiefel.  a record order intake was also achieved in the US market The Kiefel Technology Center in Detroit and the acquisition of the tool and mould manufacturer Paragon Molds also opened up further growth opportunities in the automotive sector As a result of the intensification of market processing in Asia – particularly in Southeast Asia – the largest percentage increase in order intake and sales was achieved there “Without highly motivated and qualified employees it would not be able to cope with the exceptional growth of Kiefel in Freilassing this growth continuously creates new jobs” says Dr “Our interesting product portfolio with innovative technologies combined with ideal working conditions offers the employees an attractive field of activity.” At Kiefel in Freilassing Including the strategic acquisitions of recent years some 1,000 people work for the Bavarian traditional company.  www.kiefel.com Site powered by Webvision Cloud Serbia — Hungarian police used tear gas and water cannons on hundreds of migrants who broke through a razor wire fence on the border with Serbia on Wednesday,.. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2025 audio and/or video material shall not be published rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use The AP will not be held liable for any delays errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing jumping over rivers in no man’s land … using drones to picture the traumatic journeys from Greece to Germany being taken by thousands every month Rocco Rorandelli gives us a whole new angle on the humanitarian crisis Refugees from Syria and Eritrea lounge on hundreds of cots spread across the concrete floor of a former newspaper printing plant The refugee screening centre in this town just south of Germany's business hub of Frankfurt is hosting almost 700 people - the overflow from a reception system under the strain of thousands of new arrivals every day Germany has a plan for coping: a computerised system established in 1949 that is being revived to distribute refugees among the country's regions was originally intended for divvying up research funding federal states a fixed percentage of refugees according to population and tax receipts richest states get the most refugees to shelter as the newcomers await a decision on their asylum application knows it will get 7.3 per cent of the 450,000 refugees who have already arrived this year a number that is expected to reach one million by year end The federal city of Bremen will be allocated the least The system is anchored in Germany's 1992 asylum law passed to deal with an influx of 260,000 refugees that year The key is run through a computer system called EASY developed by the federal migration ministry - a thankfully simple acronym of its German name which translates as 'Initial Distribution System for Asylum Applicants' When the applicant's name and data are entered That means many of the people in the Neu-Isenburg camp will be moving on in the coming days to different parts of Germany particularly asylum seekers who headed for Frankfurt knowing they had family there "I have relations here in Frankfurt," said Samuel She has health troubles and can use his help; he can benefit from her social foothold in Germany a 43-year-old math teacher from war-torn Damascus He said all he wanted was a good school for his daughter and a chance for family members left behind to join them he did not want to give his last name because he was afraid of possible government reprisals against his family back home seemed a little euphoric at the end of his journey which involved being smuggled through Turkey part of which he and his daughter completed on foot "I find people as angels here," he said in slightly broken English The euphoria may give way to the more difficult and time-consuming reality of seeking asylum refugees who are given refugee status win the right to work and to move but it can take months or years of waiting and less than uplifting housing conditions The refugee influx will only prolong the wait for the newcomers the head of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees resigned Thursday for what the government said were "personal reasons" The ministry had been criticised for backlogs in processing refugees the minister for social affairs in the Hesse regional government told reporters earlier at the Neu-Isenburg shelter that workers in the local processing centre in Giessen were assigning 600 refugees a week and were adding staff to try to reach 800 a week the Neu-Isenburg camp will be in business for a while Local official Brigitte Lindscheid said that the wait for an EASY decision could be "weeks" View the discussion thread. More trains are on their way for Crossrail and these ones are yellow Testing is currently underway in Continental Europe to allow a Linsinger MG31 rail milling train and two multi-purpose engineering trains to be delivered to London ahead of the Elizabeth Line opening in December The yellow plant will be used during the night to monitor and maintain the Crossrail routes The 48-metre-long rail milling train is the first of its kind to be used in the UK and is able to scan rails using electromagnetic crack detection If it identifies any issues with the track it can mill the surface of the rail to remove defects and cracks reducing wear on the new Class 345 train wheels and tracks Metal chips will be collected in a container on the train for recycling as scrap metal Transport for London says the milling process eliminates the problems of sparks fire and dust created by traditional rail grinding trains leaving a smoother surface that will provide a quieter Using this technology should reduce the need for major track maintenance (and disruption for passengers) Manufactured by Austrian company Linsinger in Steyrermuhl… This is a premium article and requires an active subscription You will need your print Customer ID ready to set up an account you'll find this on your welcome email and cover sheet delivered with each print magazine Register now Key Publishing Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with Company Number 2713662 Honking cars with stressed drivers banked up for kilometres (miles) at an Austrian-German road crossing Monday hours after Berlin reimposed border checks in the face of a massive refugee influx Two German police officers checked the identity papers of the steady stream of drivers and passengers on a bridge where the traffic bottle-necked into a single lane "It's like being back in the 1980s," complained one of the drivers caught up in the snarl,  71-year-old German pensioner Helmut Zimmermann "I would never have imagined such poor organisation." Two decades after western Europe began to abolish internal border controls Germany installed impromptu checkpoints again grappling with the continent's biggest wave of asylum-seekers since World War II Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Monday that Germany was not slamming its doors to refugees but argued the measure was needed to restore order to the asylum process The two police officers were checking papers and radioing their colleagues further down the road which motorists to pull aside for closer questioning Zimmermann said he had crossed the border from his small German hometown of Piding in the morning only to be caught up in the wait on the way back "I always drive across to Austria to buy cigarettes and fill up on petrol," because of the lower prices but not the way they were being carried out grumbling that "it couldn't possibly work smoothly with just two police officers on that bridge" "I can't understand why they're doing it this way," he said pointing to what he called the "green border" of open fields and forests all around the 'green border' is far too porous," he said "In the past few days people have crossed here again and again Just a few days ago my wife saw a few dark-skinned people come out of the forest." Also caught up in the traffic jam was Rudolf Windhofer a 56-year-old taxi driver from the Austrian city of Salzburg who was taking students across the border to Bavaria state I've never seen anything like it," he complained Having regularly driven the route for 12 years "During the extra time I need here I can't take any other fares and the students are all going to be late," he said said the effort hadn't yet netted any people traffickers after several were arrested the previous day.  "We haven't seen any smugglers for hours," said one of the officers  "They would be pretty stupid to still be arriving now They would get a free one-way trip to prison" motorists heard traffic alerts about more choked-up border points and a warning from Bavaria's interior minister Joachim Herrmann that the restrictions would likely stay in place "at least several weeks"  With many trucks caught up in the delays the road transport industry voiced concern about the traffic restrictions at busy thoroughfares at the heart of Europe  "We are concerned," said Sebastian Lechner managing director of the Association of Bavarian transport and logistics companies  He added that "in the medium and long term we will no longer be able to ensure punctual services" warned the German federation of transport and logistics firms DSLV  "When a truck driver is stuck in traffic jams it's paid work time" which would feed into the overall transport costs  "If these border controls go on for several weeks the sector would have to discuss a possible adjustment in prices with their clients," it added Beamte der Polizeiinspektion Bad Reichenhall führten am Montagnachmittag auf der Staatsstraße 2101 eine Geschwindigkeitskontrolle in Fahrrichtung Bad Reichenhall durch Eine Verletzte und Stau gab es durch einen Unfall zwischen Bad Reichenhall und Bayerisch Gmain am Montagnachmittag Berchtesgadener Land – Ein Männergremium berät über Menstruationstassen und Co.: Der Umweltausschuss als reine Männerrunde hatte in der jüngsten Sitzung über einen Zuschuss für .. Ramsau – Über 33 000 Euro von mehr als 450 Unterstützern: Die Solidarität mit Familie Wegscheider deren Haus im Bergsteigerdorf Ramsau vor wenigen Wochen vollständig niederbrannte Berchtesgaden – Das Kehlsteinhaus ist in jeder Weise besonders Ein gut erhaltenes Mahnmal an die Schrecken der NS-Diktatur Bereits zum dritten Mal ging letztes Wochenende die Bavarian Ninja Challenge im Bergsteigerhaus Ganz über die Bühne Die Bavarian Ninja Challenge der DAV-Sektion Berchtesgaden ist an .. Nachdem die SG Schönau schon letzte Woche gegen den Tabellenneunten TSV Bergen das Heimspiel verloren hatte Bei einem der zweifellos spektakulärsten und anspruchsvollsten Skitourenrennen im gesamten Alpenraum der grenzüberschreitenden »Trofeo Mezzalama« in Italien und der Schweiz – heuer .. Der Bowling Sport Verein Berchtesgaden war zuletzt gefordert Beide Teams hatten richtungsweisende Spieltage vor der Brust Berchtesgaden – Ganz so schlimm wie in mancher Wetterprognose kam es dann doch nicht aber wechselhaft blieb es am Ganghofer-Sonntag im Markt Berchtesgaden Schönau am Königssee – Jede Menge geboten war bei der Schornbad-Eröffnung und die Beteiligten durften sich auch noch über Glück mit dem Wetter freuen Berchtesgaden – Die Akzeptanz von Tourismus in den fünf Talkesselgemeinden sinkt Auch die vielen Vergünstigungen und Rabatte für die Urlauber sind den Einheimischen ein Dorn im Auge In einem wichtigen Spiel des abstiegsgefährdeten FC Bischofswiesen II gegen den Tabellenführer SV Surberg setzten sich die Gäste nach einem engen Schlagabtausch mit 3:1 durch In einem guten Spiel der Schönauer zweiten Mannschaft siegten die Schützlinge des Trainerduos Hans und Thomas Maier vor 60 Zuschauern mit 4:2 gegen die SG Unterwössen/Schleching und .. Die Sportschützen Oberstein-Scheffau ermittelten in ihrem neuen Vereinslokal »Anno 1348« ihren neuen Schützenkönig sowie die ersten und zweiten Ritter Bischofswiesen – Der 24-jährige Einheimische Der junge Mann war mit einem Hund im bergigen Gelände unterwegs und .. Zwei illegale Camper wurden von der Polizei Berchtesgaden am Freitagmorgen im Nationalpark Berchtesgaden entdeckt Bad Reichenhall – Beamte der Bundespolizeiinspektion Freilassing verhafteten am Donnerstag einen 44-jährigen Rumänen Der Insasse eines Autos wurde von Bundespolizisten kurz vor der .. Berchtesgadener Land – Die staatlich anerkannte Beratungsstelle für Schwangerschaftsfragen Berchtesgadener Land nimmt den Internationalen Hebammentag  zum Anlass schneidige Buam und Dirndln und a guade Musi Das Maibaumaufstellen im Talkessel zog heuer Tausende an