Earlier this month, the agency said it needed 775 more border guards to help out along the bloc’s frontiers, but so far member states have only offered to provide 291. It was not clear what caused the fire in the camp, which is housing thousands of m…

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday that he will not let refugees “pile up” in Croatia.

The country of two million has not excluded erecting a fence along its Croatian border.

Exhausted and chilled, migrants walked down the muddy border passage and over corn fields.

BREZICE, Slovenia (AP) - After too many days and nights stuck outside in the rain and cold, tempers are fraying among the tens of thousands of migrants trying to get through the Balkans to the heart of Europe.

A blaze tore through a migrant camp in Slovenia after refugees set fire to their tents in protest at their treatment, it was reported today. Then they climbed up the muddy river banks to be escorted on by Slovenia’s police.

Other wealthier European countries, while also being unhappy about the unprecedented number of refugees, have called for measures to integrate them into Europe.

From there buses were taking them to the nearest train station in Tovarnik or straight to the Slovenian border. “We did not think Europe is like this: no respect for refugees, not treating us with dignity. Why is Europe like this?”

Nearly 20,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Slovenia since Saturday, when Hungary sealed off its border with Croatia, forcing the people seeking refuge to take a detour towards Slovenia on their way to Austria and Germany. This Alpine country of barely 2 million says it can not cope with the volume of human traffic and is appealing for European Union financial and security aid.

Tents have been torched at a transit camp in Slovenia, allegedly by migrants angry at how they are being treated. Croatia’s interior minister Ranko Ostojic insisted that Slovenia was not accepting people quickly enough. The camp capacity is 4,000 people.

In a statement Sefic blamed the tensions on “unannounced excessive numbers of people deliberately sent to the border by Croatia”.

Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday said the influx of asylum seekers into Germany was part of the fallout from globalisation which, she noted, had served Germany well on exports and jobs. “They are very dissatisfied and unrestful”.

Slovenia and Croatia also exchanged insults as Ljubjana complained that Zagreb is ignoring requests for advanced warnings on new arrivals of refugees.

Last month, the European Union approved plans to relocate 160,000 asylum seekers from overstretched frontline states Italy and Greece with a compulsory quota system that was fiercely opposed by a few eastern, more hardline members of the bloc.

And thousands were left stranded in wet, freezing weather on Croatia’s frontier with Serbia, after travelling up through Greece and Macedonia.

A statement from EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s office said “there is a need for much greater cooperation, more extensive consultation and immediate operational action”.

Police eventually convinced them to return to the checkpoint and wait for buses provided by the government to transport them toward Germany.

News agencies report that at least 12,100 migrants are now in Serbia, while a few 6,000 migrants entered Austria from Slovenia on Tuesday.