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The European Commission granted the extension to Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway - which are all members of the visa-free and borderless zone.

Under the arrangement European citizens can travel without a visa through the designated zone, which covers most of the Brussels bloc.

But the Schengen agreement was almost destroyed last year as countries began blocking their borders to stop illegal immigration.

Several countries were forced to install temporary migration controls at their borders after the migrant crisis hit to prevent an influx of thousands of undocumented refugees from entering towns and cities undetected.

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Now the passport-free zone faces a fresh dilema after the European Union commission confirmed an extension of border controls - despite hopes Schengen could be saved.

First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: "Significant progress has been made to lift internal border controls, but we need to solidify it further.

This is why we recommend allowing the Member States concerned to maintain temporary border controls for a further three months."

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The commission stressed they had made moved to stabilise the situation, but the conditions needed to return to normal border procedures have not yet been met.

A report into the issue highlighted the significant numbers of migrants still in Greece - adding that the situation remains fragile on the Western Balkans route that connects Turkey to Europe.

The issue of new security challenges, as demonstrated by the recent terrorist attacks in a number of European countries, have also been taken into account into the recommendations.

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Significant progress has been made to lift internal border controls, but we need to solidify it further.

First Vice-President Frans Timmermans

But a document published in March 2016 earmarked last December as the target date for bringing to an end the exceptional safeguard measures taken - meaning the target was not met.

And suggestions the move was partly influenced by German elections, which are due to be held in September were rejected by Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration.

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He said: Our decision is based on facts.

The Commission said that the migration crisis calming down, and the implementation of a series of measures to better manage the EUs external borders such as the launch of the European Border and Coast Guard last fall.

But it considers that the conditions of the Back to Schengen roadmap have not yet been entirely fulfilled.

Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizire, however, says the extension should run until the end of 2017 as the three-month limit 'does not go far enough'.

The Federal Government claimed it necessary to carry out checks at the internal borders "probably beyond mid-2017".

Such an extension is necessary "regarding the overall situation", while Federal Police also stated "a persistently high migration pressure on Europe".

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SCHENGEN OVER: Europe STOPS free movement to tackle migrant crisis - Express.co.uk

BBC News

Migrant crisis: Alarm over recent deaths at Lesbos camp BBC News Aid groups have raised alarm over the deaths of three migrants on Greece's Lesbos island inside a week. They said that poor conditions at an overcrowded camp in Moria presented a "serious risk" to at least 3,000 migrants living there. A man in his 20s ... Third Migrant Dies in Greece Within Week Due to Poor Conditions in Refugee CampSputnik International all 26 news articles »

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Migrant crisis: Alarm over recent deaths at Lesbos camp - BBC News

Deepening tensions between Turkey and the European Union in the wake of a Greek refusal to extradite several coup plotters to Turkey, run the risk of destabilizing the refugee agreement, claimed a report by international political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

The report revealed that Turkey will continue to be the EU's most important partner in managing the flow of migrants and the most important interlocutor over refugees of Europe by hosting over some 3 million potential asylum seekers (including 2.7 million Syrians).

It also pointed to the success of the EU-Turkey refugee deal, to which German Chancellor Angela Merkel invested considerable political capital and identified it as the reason for the decline in migrants entering Europe.

Turkey and the EU signed the refugee deal in March, which aimed to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea, by taking stricter measures against human traffickers. While Turkey respected the deal and cut down the refugee flow almost entirely from its coasts to the Greek islands, the EU failed to keep up its end of the deal to deliver aid to Syrian refugees and visa-free travel for Turkish citizens.

According to the report, however, deepening tensions between Turkey and the EU or Turkey and Greece in particular risk destabilizing the agreement. Relations between Turkey and Greece were recently strained after a top Greek court on Thursday refused to extradite eight pro-coup soldiers who fled to Greece after the July 15 coup attempt, which cost the lives 248 people and injured over 2,200 others, while leaving the Turkish Parliament bombed.

Turkish officials have harshly criticized the decision, claiming that it is highly political and disregarding of bilateral and international treaties and that Greece has disappointed Turkey once again by supporting terrorism.

Foreign Minister Mevlt avuolu on Friday said Turkey would take the necessary measures against Greece following the court's decision, including cancelling the readmission deal with Greece, which allowed the latter to return illegal migrants, who traveled through Turkey, back to Turkey to be processed before being sent back to their country of origin, reported Turkish state-run news outlet, TRT Haber.

The independent report also stated that in a situation, where Turkey can relax its efforts to halt migrants, to demonstrate the leverage it has over the EU to keep its promise, Greece is at risk of becoming overburdened.

The Turkish Coast Guard has reportedly apprehended over 37,000 migrants in the Aegean, and while this number combined with the number of migrants that have entered Greece is substantially below the record figures from 2015, even a gradual increase of several more tens of thousands of migrants in Greece could severely strain Greece's capacity to deal with migrants and begin to affect politics in the EU.

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Greece's refusal to return putschists may cause new migrant crisis - Daily Sabah

This graphic shows the ratio of our refugee population to our wealth in 2014 a year when the number of newly displaced hit a record high.

The West has historically thrown a lot of money at the problem of refugees. Problem is: it doesn't work.

One in five of the world's displaced come from Syria. Nearly two million have ended up in Turkey, like 10-year-old Afaf and baby Sufian.

At The Jungle in Calais, France, thousands of people seeking a new life stand in rags on the threshold of Britain. Daniel is one of them.

Around the world, 38 million are displaced within their own countries - they could be the refugees of tomorrow. From North Korea, Pak Sol-hwa risked everything to cross into China.

A record 34,000 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum in 82 countries last year. Six-year-old Daniel made the journey to the US with two other children to escape a life of crime.

Australia resettled 11,600 people in 2014. But in our neighbourhood, thousands of genuine refugees remain in limbo. Khadim Dai is one.

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Migrant Crisis - SMH.com.au

By Annabell Van den Berghe By Annabell Van den Berghe January 28

BRUSSELS With a cold snap bringing snow and freezing temperatures to Greeces overcrowded refugee camps, a new type of migrant crisis is overwhelming tens of thousands of people who fled war and poverty in the hopes of a better life in Europe.

The chilly weather this month has already cost the lives of several asylum seekers in the Balkans, as tents and other lightweight shelter that are adequate to Greek islands balmy summers have proven inadequate for winter gusts. Heavy snowfall on the islands has piled up on tents, and freezing temperatures have been recorded even on islands that usually have temperate winter weather.

The poor conditions in Greece have highlighted Europes ongoing challenge to address the migration crisis, even during winter months in which fresh arrivals have slowed to a trickle because of a forbidding sea crossing. Although the camps have drawn condemnation from the United Nations and senior E.U. leaders, the European Union has left the cash-strapped Greek government to handle the challenge mostly on its own.

With so many children and vulnerable people remaining in filthy camping tents, the need is great for Europe to show solidarity and take responsibility, said Roland Schnbauer, an Athens-based spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency. He added that refugees have been wandering through overcrowded camps to keep warm.

[Number of stranded refugees in Greece could rise under latest E.U. plan]

At the Pikpa refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, temperatures in recent days have dropped to the low twenties.

The camp is better than anything weve seen before, said Najwa Hassan, who escaped the Islamic State takeover of Mosul and has been living in the camp since July. But its difficult to keep them warm, they cant move, she said, referring to her children.

Hassan said two of her three children lost their ability to walk after the Islamic State threw them off the roof in Mosul. Her husband was beheaded in front of their children; Islamic State militants subsequently beat her up.

Her 15-year-old son, Ahmed, sleeps from dawn to dusk, covered under too few blankets to keep him warm. The scarce moments hes awake are filled with screaming, Hassan said.

I dont know if hes in pain, or if hes afraid or maybe only cold, she said. She said they have not had access to a doctor. At least 15percent of the population in the refugee camps faces a disability or trauma, according to an estimate from Human Rights Watch, an advocacy organization.

With all of the camps heavily overcrowded, often reaching three times their capacity, aid workers find themselves trying to help with steeply curtailed resources. Some refugees have been forced to take matters into their own hands, burning anything they can find to heat their tents, according to Loic Jaeger, the head of the Greek mission of Doctors Without Borders, which works in the refugee camps.

Weve been donating winter clothes, socks and blankets, but what we really need is appropriate shelter, which is something only the authorities can decide on, Jaeger said.

In recent days, Greek authorities have offered a temporary solution by converting a tank landing ship into a dorm for some male asylum seekers.

[Over 7,100 migrant deaths in 2016 is a world record. More than half were in the Mediterranean.]

European officials have also condemned the conditions and implored other E.U. nations to step up their aid efforts.

We all Greeks, Europeans have a humanitarian imperative to alleviate the situation here on the islands, said Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner charged with migration issues, during a recent visit to Lesbos.

But Greece has been told to cope using its own resources, and a system that would send some asylum seekers back to Turkey to ease pressure on the camps has largely stalled. About 50,000 refugees and migrant are in Greece, according to U.N. refugee agency figures.

The paralysis has frustrated refugee advocates.

The situation today is the result of eight months not doing enough, said Jaeger, of Doctors Without Borders. We all knew that winter would come.

Michael Birnbaum contributed to this article.

Read more

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A shipwreck off Libya raises the already horrific death toll for migrants in the Mediterranean

Migrants get stuck in Greece as door closes to Europe

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These refugees escaped war. Now they're freezing in Greece's ... - Washington Post