European Union Still Struggling With Refugee Crisis

05:09

September 22, 2015

Hundreds of migrants who arrived by train at Hegyeshalom on the Hungarian and Austrian border walk the four kilometers into Austria on September 22, 2015 in Hegyeshalom, Hungary. Politicians across the European Union are holding meetings on the refugee crisis with EU leaders attending a summit on Wednesday to try and solve the crisis and the dispute of how to relocate 120,000 migrants across EU states. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Interior ministers from the 28-nation European Union are meeting to discuss the growing immigration crisis amid increasing evidence the group is fractured. Czech leaders say they are determined to reject the EU plan for compulsory quotas to distribute refugees. And Hungarian lawmakers say the EU's "irresponsible policies" have led to the deaths of migrants whose "unbearable flow" is a burden on the country's economic development.

Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency is pleading with the European Union to agree this week to take in another 120,000 refugees and migrants. Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd speaks with the BBC's correspondent in Turkey Mark Lowen on what he's seen as the tension surrounding the refugee crisis continues to build.

Note: This BBC interview can be heard in the Here & Now podcast or with the WBUR app.

Guest

Mark Lowen, Turkey correspondent for the BBC. He tweets @marklowen.

This segment aired on September 22, 2015.

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