Belgium has called for vast refugee camps holding up to 300,000 refugees to be built in Greece in a desperate attempt to stem the flow of migrants from Syria and other nations outside Europe.

At an emergency summit of European leaders yesterday, Belgian migration minister Theo Francken raised the spectre of setting up 'closed facilities' in Greece to be operated by the EU.

He said that the Greeks 'now need to bear the consequences' of being too weak to guard their own borders and called for Athens to face an EU 'sanction mechanism' under which the rising number of refugees entering the country would be forced to stay there.

EU ministers met Amsterdam to try to tackle the crisis. Teams of border guards are now set to be deployed at the Greek border. Pictured: A group of migrants walk in sub zero temperatures near the Serbian-Croatian border

Belgium has called for holding camps holding up to 300,000 refugees to be built in Greece

Belgian migration minister Theo Francken raised the spectre of setting up 'closed facilities' in Greece to be operated by the EU

It comes as Theresa May tore into Brussels for being ‘more talk than action’ as plans were belatedly unveiled to try to solve the migration crisis.

At the summit, EU leaders announced teams of border guards will be deployed to stop migrants leaving Greece for the rest of the EU, cutting the country off from the rest of the continent.

The scheme – which effectively suspends Greece’s membership of the Schengen zone – is designed to finally halt the free flow of migrants arriving by boat into mainland Europe.

The move came amid a blistering broadside against the rest of the EU by Home Secretary Mrs May – which is likely to attract the attention of Tory Eurosceptics, who are keen for her to lead the campaign for Britain to leave the EU.

She said last night: ‘Europe is facing an unprecedented migration crisis and today was a crucial meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council.

‘Together with my counterparts from France and Germany, I made the case for urgent action, not just to deal with the immediate crisis but also to resolve the situation in the longer term.

‘Unfortunately what we’ve had is more talk than action.

'And we need urgently to work together to ensure that we can have proper processing at Europe’s external borders, that we’re returning illegal migrants.

'Europe is struggling to cope, and every country needs to act now.’

Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia

During the EU leaders' meeting, Theresa May tore into Brussels for being ‘more talk than action’ as plans were belatedly unveiled to try to solve the migration crisis

At the summit, EU leaders announced teams of border guards will be deployed to stop migrants leaving Greece for the rest of the EU

The scheme effectively suspends Greece’s membership of the Schengen zone

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker has backed a proposal for EU border guards. Theresa May was expected to resist a call for British troops to be used

After months of inaction, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker backed a proposal to strengthen security on the Greek/Macedonian border to create a ‘second line of defence’ against migration.

More than 50 guards from other European countries have already been sent to Macedonia, which is not a member of the EU, to strengthen its border with Greece.

The controversial move will heap pressure on Greece to finally control the number of people landing on its shores as it will no longer be able to simply wave them onwards.

Greece has long been criticised for doing too little to control the flow of people into Europe. Despite promises to help control the influx it has been registering less than a quarter of the up to 4,000 people a day landing on its shores.

Leaders will threaten Greece with the loss of its passport-free travel if it fails to secure its borders

Mr Juncker yesterday endorsed the plan, which was greeted with howls of protest from Athens, where officials warned it would turn the country into a ‘cemetery of souls’.

But German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere insisted Greece would have to ‘do its duty’, and Austria’s interior minister, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, said: ‘It’s a myth that Greece can’t secure its borders.

‘It has one of Europe’s largest navies.’

Meanwhile the likelihood of David Cameron being able to hold a referendum as early as June appeared to grow, as Irish prime minister Enda Kenny revealed that the European Council is finally moving ahead and considering the UK’s ‘solvable’ concerns.

Mr Kenny said European Council president Donald Tusk would publish a paper next week on the UK’s four key areas of negotiation. He added: ‘I actually believe all these are solvable.’

An asylum seeker was arrested for murder last night after allegedly stabbing a woman at a Swedish refugee centre.

Alexandra Mezher, 22, who was originally from Lebanon, worked at the centre for youngsters near Gothenburg. Police gave no details about the suspect’s age or nationality.

But a police spokesman said: ‘We’re dealing with more incidents like this since the arrival of so many refugees from abroad.’