Efforts to deal with migrant crisis at 'a breaking point'

Humanitarian organisations attempting to help the soaring numbers of people fleeing conflicts and natural disasters around the world are at "a breaking point," UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday.

"In the last few years, we have seen a staggering escalation of displacement caused both by conflict and by natural hazards," Guterres told a conference in Geneva on the root causes of displacement.

"The fact that we are seeing so many new crises breaking out without any of the old ones getting resolved, clearly illustrates the lack of capacity and political will to end conflict, let alone prevent it," Guterres said, pointing out that the number of people forced to flee daily due to conflict and persecution nearly quadrupled between 2010 and 2014.

"The result is an alarming proliferation of unpredictability and impunity," he warned.

Meanwhile, Germany and seven other EU nations are meeting Turkey to discuss ways of settling thousands of Syrian refugees ahead of the final EU summit of 2015.

Leaders attending will discuss a proposal to resettle Syrians straight from camps in Turkey. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the driving force behind the plans, faces resistance from other EU states.

Yesterday's full EU summit in Brussels is set to focus heavily on the migrant crisis, which has divided members.

Record numbers of people have arrived in Europe this year, prompting some states to build fences and introduce border controls in defiance of the EU's border-free Schengen area.

The resettlement proposal would see EU countries accept Syrian refugees directly from Turkey under a voluntary scheme.

It is hoped the plan will stop people making the dangerous sea journey to Greece and will be more palatable for EU members than obligatory quotas.

Turkey and eight EU nations - including Germany, Sweden and Greece - are holding a special meeting to discuss the migration crisis before the full summit.

EU Parliament President Martin Schulz said yesterday's so-called "mini-summit" was "not a split but a consequence of lack of solidarity".

European leaders are struggling to maintain unity after a tumultuous year of negotiations, reports the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels.

Turkey and European leaders struck a controversial deal last month in which Ankara tries to prevent migrants leaving its borders in exchange for financial aid and political concessions.

But plans for resettlement will only move forward if Turkey takes decisive steps to cut off the illegal flow of people crossing the Aegean Sea, our correspondent says.

The wider EU summit will discuss European Commission plans to create an EU coast guard, and other ways to strengthen external borders.

The fight against terrorism is also expected to dominate the summit after it emerged that at least two of the Paris attackers used the migrant route to travel to France.

Ahead of the summit, European Council President Donald Tusk said: "There is no good alternative to border protection.

"Europe cannot remain vulnerable when Schengen states are not able to effectively protect their borders."

However he has been keen to keep migration and terror as separate issues, writing in his summit invitation: "The protection of our external borders is not intended to scare off those who flee wars or persecution".

Many migrants are themselves fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, seeking to reach northern Europe.