The Latest: 12 migrants drown off Turkey in rough weather
IDOMENI, Greece (AP) - The latest developments in Europe's immigration crisis. All times local.
5:15 p.m.
Turkey's coast guard says 12 migrants have drowned after a boat taking them to the Greek islands capsized in rough weather.
A coast guard statement said 26 others were rescued on Thursday off the Turkish Aegean resort of Foca, near Turkey's third-largest city, Izmir.
One of the survivors, 31-year-old Iraqi national Yusuf Ali, told the state-run Anadolu Agency that he lost his wife and child in the incident.
Ali was quoted as saying: "The boat started to take in water. We just couldn't stop it. My daughter and my wife drowned in the water."
Anadolu said security forces had detained two alleged human smugglers.
About 40 migrants have died so far this year off Turkey's coast while trying to cross into Greece, the coast guard says.
___
3:35 p.m.
The governor of Bavaria is praising neighboring Austria for introducing a cap on the number of refugees allowed into the country.
Horst Seehofer says he wants a similar limit for Germany, even though Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly rejected the idea.
Seehofer, whose center-right party is part of Merkel's governing coalition at the national level, has become one of the most prominent critics of her handling of the refugee crisis. He told reporters Thursday in the town of Kreuth that tensions with Merkel on the refugee issue "inevitably" affect other areas of the federal government's work.
Seehofer has accused Merkel of creating a "strong magnetic effect" when she announced Sept. 4 that Germany would take in refugees stranded in other European countries.
Almost 1.1 million asylum-seekers arrived in Germany last year.
___
3:15 p.m.
The Czech prime minister says all EU nations must work to increase the protection of the external border of the European visa-free Schengen travel zone and to ensure a proper registration of all incoming migrants to be able to reduce their influx.
In a debate Thursday in Parliament's lower house, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says that's a more effective response to the migrant crisis than to reintroduce border checks as some EU nations have done.
Sobotka says his government is ready to deploy forces to close the Czech border if necessary but would prefer an all European action on the external EU border. He says EU migrant registration "hotspots" in Greece and Italy have been far from effective yet.
Sobotka also dismissed the views of some that there's an "automatic" link between the migrants and terrorism but added that those who don't respect the rule of law should be expelled from the EU.
___
1:45 p.m.
An Italian ecumenical mission is in Lebanon this week to work out the final details of a pilot project to bring as many as 1,000 refugees to Italy on humanitarian visas so they're not tempted to risk sea crossings to Europe.
The U.N. refugee agency has welcomed the initiative, one of many types of private sponsorships that are enabling particularly vulnerable refugees to reach safety and start new lives in third countries.
In this case, the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy and the Rome-based Catholic Sant'Egidio Community teamed up to ask the Italian government grant 1,000 humanitarian visas for refugees in camps in Lebanon, Morocco and Ethiopia. Organizers say a first group of 100 refugees in Lebanon could arrive by the end of the month or early February.
___
12:25 p.m.
A newspaper reports that least two German states make refugees hand over assets above a certain amount to pay for their upkeep.
The practice mirrors similar rules in Switzerland, where authorities can make refugees surrender any assets above 1,000 Swiss francs ($996).
German daily Bild reported Thursday that the southern state of Bavaria, where most of the 1.1 million asylum seekers to Germany last year first set foot, sets the bar at 750 euros ($818).
The neighboring state of Baden-Wuerttemberg allows refugees to keep just 350 euros.
German officials say refugees are treated in the same way as German residents who have to use up their own funds before receiving basic welfare payments.
Denmark is due to vote on introducing a similar measure this month.
___
12:15 p.m.
Macedonian authorities have reopened their borders to asylum-seekers heading north to wealthier European countries, but are only letting in people whose stated final destination is Germany or Austria.
About 1,700 people had been stranded for up to two days in freezing temperatures at Greece's northern border with Macedonia. The crossing opened just before midday Thursday.
Greek police are now asking migrants to state on their ID papers which country they are heading for. In November, Macedonia and other Balkan countries imposed a first check on transient migrants, excluding all but Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans, whom they deem refugees and not economic migrants.
The new limitation follows an Austrian decision to only allow in migrants heading for Austria or Germany, which had a shook up migration patterns in the Balkans.