Warm welcome for refugees in Germany, but thousands still stranded.

Thousands of exhausted migrants received a hero's welcome as they streamed into Germany on Sunday as the UN criticised overall European efforts to help them.

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Migrants wave as they arrive at the main railway station in Munich, southern Germany, on September 06, 2015. Germany on Sunday prepared for more refugees to arrive from Hungary via Austria, a day after thousands were greeted, often by volunteers holding signs that read "Welcome to Germany". But calls grew for a European solution to its worst refugee crisis since World War II. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHE

Refugees get hero's welcome in Germany as UN raps Europe

Berlin, Sept 6, 2015, AFP –  Thousands of exhausted migrants received a hero's welcome as they streamed into Germany on Sunday as the UN criticised the huge disparity in European efforts to help them.

As well-wishers turned out en masse at train stations in Munich, Frankfurt and other German cities, the UN's refugee chief said the crisis could be "manageable" if European countries all pulled their weight and agreed on a common approach.

Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II has sparked a flurry of diplomatic wrangling, with Turkey reacting furiously to what it called the closed-doors response of "Christian fortress Europe".

But for thousands of refugees who had made a perilous trip across land and sea and finally set foot in Germany, the welcome was overwhelming.

As they stepped off trains in Munich, many clutching young children, the newcomers were met by crowds of cheering well-wishers holding balloons, who handed them food, water and toys.

A refugee cries as he arrives at the main station in Dortmund, western Germany, on September 6, 2015. AFP PHOTO MAJA HITIJ

"The people here treat us so well, they treat us like real human beings, not like in Syria," said Mohammad, 32, from the devastated town of Qusayr, his eyes welling up with tears.

Although Germany has thrown open its doors, waiving procedural rules for Syrian asylum-seekers, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu on Sunday lashed out at the "ridiculously small" share of refugees EU countries were accepting.

Migrant holds a paper written "Thank you Germany" while waiting for a bus after his arrival at the train station in Dortmund, western Germany, on September 6, 2015. AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ

Writing in Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he hit out at "Christian fortress Europe" pointing out that Turkey had already taken in more than two million people from war-torn Syria and Iraq.

His remarks came just days after Hungary, which saw 50,000 new arrivals in August alone, raised the alarm over the impact of mainly Muslim refugees on Europe's "Christian culture".

Helpers hand over care packages at the main station in Dortmund, western Germany, on September 6, 2015 as trains with refugees who were stuck in Hungary are expected. AFP PHOTO / MAJA HITIJ

But Pope Francis urged a different approach in his Sunday sermon.

He described the refugees' plight as an issue for Christians everywhere, urging "every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe" to take in a family.

"Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of asylum-seekers fleeing death (as) victims of war and hunger who are hoping to start a new life, the gospel calls on us to be the neighbour of the smallest and the most abandoned, to give them concrete hope," he said.

Images of the body of a three-year-old Syrian refugee named Aylan on a beach in a Turkish holiday resort set off a fresh wave of soul-searching in Europe last week.

A paramilitary police officer investigates the scene before carrying the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi, 3, after a number of migrants died and others were reported missing when boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized near the Turkish resort of Bodrum. (AP Photo)

It highlighted the peril faced by thousands fleeing war and bloodshed in the Middle East and beyond.

Meanwhile, another 115 people, half of them women and children, were rescued off a small fishing boat off the southern coast of Cyprus, officials said.

And Greece sent troops to the island of Lesbos after more clashes between police and migrants sparked by delays in the registration process that have left thousands unable to move on.

Most of the migrants are hoping to reach Germany, Europe's biggest economy, which is expecting a record 800,000 new asylum seekers this year, four times the number in 2014.

By 1500 GMT Sunday, some 6,000 people had entered Germany, with another 4,000 expected to arrive by the end of the day, police said. Another 8,000 people had entered the country on Saturday.

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