Refugees get hero's welcome in Germany as UN raps Europe

Thousands of exhausted migrants received a hero's welcome as they streamed into Germany on Sept. 6 as the UN criticised the huge disparity in European efforts to help them.  

As well-wishers turned out en masse at train stations in Munich, Frankfurt and other German cities, the UN's refugee chief said the crisis could be "manageable" if European countries all pulled their weight and agreed on a common approach.    

Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II has sparked a flurry of diplomatic wrangling, with Turkey reacting furiously to what it called the closed-doors response of "Christian fortress Europe".
 
But for thousands of refugees who had made a perilous trip across land and sea and finally set foot in Germany -- seen by many as a promised land -- the welcome was overwhelming.
 
As they stepped off trains in Munich, many clutching young children, the newcomers were met by crowds of cheering well-wishers holding balloons, who handed them food, water and toys.    

"The people here treat us so well, they treat us like real human beings, not like in Syria," said Mohammad, 32, from the devastated town of Qusayr, his eyes welling up with tears.
         
Although Germany has thrown open its doors, waiving procedural rules for Syrian asylum-seekers, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davuto?lu on Sept.6 lashed out at the "ridiculously small" share of refugees EU countries were accepting.
 
Writing in Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he hit out at "Christian fortress Europe" pointing out that Turkey had already taken in more than two million people from war-torn Syria and Iraq.
 
His remarks came just days after Hungary, which saw 50,000 new arrivals in August alone, raised the...