The Latest: Afghan migrants in Balkans fear deportation

A child paints next to a picture showing the symbol of peace at the Kara Tepe camp for refugees and other migrants in Lesbos island, Greece, on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. More than a million migrants and refugees crossed through Greece and on to other EU countries since the start of 2016, while over 60,000 have been stranded in the country since the EU-Turkey deal took effect and the Balkan transit route north was closed. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) (The Associated Press)

Migrants queue for food at a park where hundreds of migrants are temporarily residing in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. Thousands of young Afghan men remain in Serbia looking for ways to reach wealthy EU nations, despite closed borders and reports that their government in Kabul has agreed to cooperate on the return of its citizens that have been rejected for asylum. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) (The Associated Press)

KAPITAN ANDREEVO, Bulgaria – The Latest on the migrant influx in Europe (all times local):

4:20 p.m.

They have come a long way, spent most of their money on smugglers and camped in the open for weeks. For Afghan migrants stranded in the Balkans there is no turning back, even as the most likely prospect they face in the European Union could be deportation back to their country.

Thousands of young Afghan men remain in Serbia looking for ways to reach wealthy EU nations, despite closed borders and reports that their government in Kabul has agreed to cooperate on the return of its citizens that have been rejected for asylum.

Some migrants in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, said Thursday they have no future in Afghanistan and that the EU should let them in. Sulaiman Zazai, 18 says: "If they send us back, that will break our hearts."

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11:00 a.m.

A new European border and coast guard force was officially launched Thursday at a checkpoint on the European Union's external border with Turkey in Bulgaria.

The new task force, launched at the Kapitan Andreevo crossing, was built from the border management agency Frontex because national coast guards were overwhelmed by the refugee emergency.

"From now onwards, the external EU border of one member state is the external border of all member states — both legally and operationally," said Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship.

The service will have more than double Frontex's staff and new powers. EU countries will establish a pool of 1,500 guards and technical equipment to rapidly deploy to countries facing heavy migration flows.

Liaison officers would be stationed in EU states with external borders to monitor movements.

Fabrice Leggeri, the executive director of Frontex, said the agency will be able to offer operational support to neighboring non-EU countries asking for assistance at their border and share intelligence on cross-border criminal activities.

Frontex has been unable to effectively control the external borders of the EU due to its limited powers and lack of sufficient staff.

The uncontrolled stream of migrants entering Europe led some countries to build fences on their borders, cutting off routes used by migrants to travel to northern European countries.

According to the EU, the long-term aim is to scrap border controls inside the bloc and to restore the passport-free Schengen Zone across the continent.

The new agency will be involved in efforts to repatriate migrants whose asylum claims are rejected or are considered a security threat. It also will be able to carry out border operations, including search and rescue operations on its own initiative, without waiting for a request from the country concerned.

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Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.