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Exhausted Migrants Spend First Night In Germany

More than 6,000 migrants have arrived in the German city of Munich - following gruelling journeys by foot, bus and train across large swathes of mainland Europe.

About 4,300 people have been given temporary accommodation in Bavaria, Germany's largest state, after receiving medicine, food, drink and fresh clothes.

The remainder have been offered a place to stay beyond Bavaria, according to authorities who have been co-ordinating the response to the influx of migrants entering Europe's wealthiest nation.

In total, some 8,000 people - many of them refugees fleeing wartorn countries including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea - will have arrived in Germany from Austria by the end of Saturday.

Whereas most travelled by train to Munich, others have been taken further afield to Frankfurt and Dortmund on special services.

When the first trains began to arrive in Munich on Saturday afternoon, the clearly relieved migrants - many with children - were applauded and welcomed by locals.

Some Germans also offered small toys to young refugees as they made their way through the terminal.

Arabic-speaking interpreters have been helping refugees at emergency registration centres in Munich, a stark contrast to the disorder and confusion many had faced in Budapest.

The mass migration to Germany comes after Hungary relaxed its attempts to stop the progress of migrants, which had created dangerous bottlenecks around the capital's main train station.

Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said her country will be setting no limit to the number of people who could seek asylum there.

"As a strong, economically healthy country, we have the strength to do what is necessary," she said.

Hungary is once again beginning to fill up with new arrivals of migrants and refugees - most of whom have travelled through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia.

But trains to western Europe remain cancelled at Keleti station in Budapest, leaving people with no choice but to walk to the Austrian border some 110 miles away - just like thousands had done on Friday night.

More than 165,000 people have already made their way through Hungary this year, the country's government has said - insisting that 100 buses deployed to help migrants reach Austria on Friday night were a "one off".

Earlier in the week, Hungary's right-wing administration tried to stop migrants from travelling - and moved them to camps in what it described as an attempt to uphold international agreements.

Its prime minister, Victor Orban, has claimed "the supply of immigrants is endless" - and has criticised the European Union's plans to introduce quotas, committing each country in the bloc to shelter a proportion of the refugees.

He added: "What will it solve if we divide 50,000 or 100,000 migrants among us, when uncountable millions will be on the way?"

Despite Mr Orban's vocal criticism of the EU's approach to the migration crisis, he spoke with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Saturday night.

According to Mrs Merkel's spokesman, the talks were constructive - as "both sides agreed that Hungary and Germany are meeting their European obligations".

However, an Interior Ministry spokesman in Berlin had earlier insisted that rules which require asylum seekers to apply in the first EU country they arrive in are still in place - even though Germany has thrown open its borders to migrants from other EU member states.

The next influx of migrants and refugees, numbering in the thousands, has been already been reported on Hungary's southern frontier.

Mr Orban wants to deploy the army and police forces along Hungary's southern border with Serbia in the next 10 days, once a new, 3.5m-high fence is completed.

"Transit zones" would be created along the border, where asylum seekers would be held until their applications are processed. Rejected migrants would subsequently be deported before arriving in the EU member state.

Germany provided refuge to 104,460 migrants in August alone, and is expected to take in a total of 800,000 this year.

David Cameron has bowed to intensifying political pressure and announced that Britain will take "thousands more" refugees from the camps in countries around Syria - but not those who have been travelling to the EU through the Balkan states.

George Osborne echoed Mr Cameron's remarks, but warned Britain also needed to do more to tackle the causes of migration by defeating smuggling gangs, boosting aid and tackling conflict in Syria.

More than 400,000 Britons have signed a petition calling on the UK Government to accept more refugees - and many of them have been galvanised into raising funds and gathering supplies to help the humanitarian relief effort.

Elsewhere in Europe, Finland's millionaire prime minister, Juha Sipila, has said he will make his home in the north of the country available to refugees.