Special to WorldTribune.com

Europe has been flooded by over 350,000 Middle East migrants in 2015.

“Since the beginning of the year 2,342 migrants have died in the Mediterranean, 2,326 in the Channel of Sicily,” said Federico Soda, director of the International Organization for Migration’s Coordinating Office for the Mediterranean in Rome.

“In the last few weeks we have seen many deaths. We think that this may be explained by the fact that the smugglers are becoming increasingly violent and cruel. Migrants are forced to stay in the hold, where they asphyxiate.”

The migrant flood hit Hungary on Sept. 1 as police cleared hundreds of migrants who were desperate to get to Germany from Budapest’s main railway stations. Officials in Hungary and Austria say Germany triggered the crisis when it said last week that it would ease entry requirements for Syrian refugees, sparking what the officials said was a stampede among migrants stranded in Hungary.

An Austrian government official said that Germany’s announcement had sparked a rush through Hungary and Austria of refugees insisting that they should be allowed to travel on to Germany. “Everyone wants to go to Germany or Sweden,” the official said. “The big question remains: What will Germany do?”

Berlin said last week that it would no longer deport Syrian refugees who reach Germany via another EU country.

Hungarian officials say the country it is too overwhelmed by the tide of migrants to follow the usual protocols for registration and fingerprinting of asylum seekers.

The Hungarian parliament’s defense committee was met on Sept. 1 to discuss the deployment of the army to the border with non-EU member Serbia, through which most of the migrants cross into Hungary, avoiding regular checkpoints. Lawmakers are set to approve a bill on Sept. 4 authorizing the deployment.

  Europe hit by migrant flood of biblical proportions, WorldTribune.com