24 hours after EU leaders pledge to deal with the refugee crisis harrowing pictures show the tide of human suffering is far from waning

With the deal to help keep Britain in the EU secured, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has swiftly refocused her sights on pressing ahead with a joint EU solution to the refugee crisis.

Tackling Europe's migrant crisis in collaboration with Turkey was a top priority for Merkel at a two-day EU summit in Brussels that ended late on Friday.

With the approach of warmer weather, however, the problem in Europe is only predicted to get worse.

Photographs from Greece and Macedonia today show that the tide of human suffering is far from waning.

                Suffering: Syrian refugees aboard a dinghy arrive on the Greek northeastern island of Lesbos on February 20

             Desperation: A Syrian refugee holds a child after her arrival on the Greek northeastern island of Lesbos

Snapshots from the Greek island of Lesbos show volunteers helping boats to reach the shore, full of families wearing life jackets.

On land, people are wrapped in blankets to stay warm after making the perilous crossing.

Images from the port of Piraeus, near Athens, show a father, carrying as many of his family's worldly possessions as he can over his shoulder, while also clutching his small daughter's hand.

 Meanwhile, those further on in their journey across Europe walked towards Macedonia's border with Serbia.

They are continuing their journey further north from the transit centre for refugees near the northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce.

It comes as Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia and Austria have agreed that the main screening of the migrants and refugees would take place in Macedonia on the border with Greece

                Volunteers help refugees and migrants to reach the shore at the Greek northeastern island of Lesbos.

           A volunteer, right, helps a Syrian refugee to get out of the sea after his arrival on the Greek northeastern island of Lesbos. Angela Merkel hopes to work with Turkey to create a joint solution

           Struggle: A Syrian makes his way out of the sea after his arrival along with other refugees and migrants at the northeastern island of Lesbos.

         Syrian refugees pray after their arrival on a beach at the Greek northeastern island of  lesbos

            A convoy of military trucks carry container houses under heavy security measures by Greek authorities at the port of the southeastern Greek island of Kos.

             Migrants and refugees arrive at the port of Piraeus, near Athens. A father carries his family's possessions over his shoulder while clutching his daughter's hand.

               Refugees and migrants walk after disembarking from passenger ferry Blue Star1 at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece

  A woman holding a baby waits outside a ferry after her arrival at the port of Piraeus, near Athens

Those who pass the control will then be transported under police escort all the way to the Austrian border. 

But Merkel's efforts to press on with the EU-Turkey plan were frustrated when a pre-summit meeting on migration due to be held on Thursday between Turkey and 11 EU states was called off after a bombing in Ankara.

A summit meeting with all 28 EU leaders has been scheduled for early March.

'The fact that we have decided a joint summit – not just a summit of "the coalition of the willing", but a joint summit of 28 with the Turkish prime minister – I think that is a very strong signal,' said Merkel.

Stoking the frustration of many EU states, Austria, the last stop on the way to Germany for hundreds of thousands of migrants who have flocked to Europe, on Thursday vowed to press on with a plan to cap migrants flowing into the country.

             Merkel, who wants to keep the EU's commitment to the free movement of people within its borders, is pinning her hopes on the EU-Turkey deal

Austria's dispute with its peers is symptomatic of the rifts the massive flow of migrants into Europe has opened within the EU, with member states often ignoring calls from the European Commission to share the burden more evenly, and unilaterally reimposing barriers to movement over their borders.

The Austrian move threatens to clog up the route for migrants leaving Greece to head for Germany and other wealthier EU nations, exacerbating the migration crisis in Greece, the point of entry into the EU for many migrants.

Four sceptical eastern European members have floated a fallback policy of ring fencing Greece to keep the migrants they expect to land there from proceeding through Macedonia and Bulgaria to other EU countries to the north and west.

Merkel, who wants to keep the EU's commitment to the free movement of people within its borders, is pinning her hopes on the EU-Turkey deal.

'The EU-Turkey plan ... is a priority for us,' she said, speaking for the EU as a whole.

                Four sceptical eastern European members have floated a fallback policy of ring fencing Greece to keep the migrants they expect to land there from proceeding through Macedonia and Bulgaria to other EU countries to the north and west.
Sunday, 21 February 2016