Growing concern about child refugees as EU leaders remain split

As concerns grow about worsening conditions at reception facilities on the Aegean islands, European Union leaders meeting in Salzburg, Austria, on Thursday discussed migration pressure on the bloc's external borders, but divisions remained over how to tackle the problem. 

By late on Thursday night there had been no update on reports that Greece will be permitted to transfer thousands of migrants from the islands to the mainland, while plans to boost the presence of the EU border agency Frontex were put off until spring. 

The idea of offering financial incentives to EU member-states unwilling to take in refugees from Greece and Italy was mooted by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas before German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed the idea as unacceptable, as did Luxembourg Premier Xavier Bettel. 

The discussion...