In an unprecedented move to stem the tsunami of migrants entering Europe, Hungary has decided to stop all trains at Budapest main train station to stop refugees - most of them from conflict areas such as Syria - from entering the EU onwards to Austria and Germany. For now, there are 1000s of refugees waiting at the station, with entrances blocked by police.
Clashes occurred earlier...
And now the police hace refugees cordoned off - Live Feed...
As RT reports [6],
The main railway in Budapest got closed for an “undetermined time” for migrants Tuesday after hundreds of them attempted to board a train to Vienna, the latest event in the spiraling migrant crisis that’s engulfing Europe.
Hundreds of refugees – most of them from conflict areas like Syria – are now waiting at the station, with the entrance blocked by police, and are demonstrating, urging the authorities to let them in, shouting “Germany, Germany.”
The station remains open for other passengers, local media report.
Earlier in the morning, clashes took place between security forces and hundreds of migrants as they were pushing towards platform gates.
Several told AP that they had spent hundreds of euro to buy the train tickets.
überhöhte Fahrpreise f Flüchtlinge! Budapest - München: 493 EUR! http://t.co/tsJfWVovdJ [7] v @hvg_hu [8] Bild:Fekete Norbert pic.twitter.com/dXXUOqWtz1 [9]
— Nagashi (@dieNagashi) September 1, 2015 [10]
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Monday the passport-free Schengen zone will need to be reviewed if the EU doesn’t succeed in fairly distributing refugees coming from war-torn countries.
"If we don't succeed in fairly distributing refugees, then of course the Schengen question will be on the agenda for many," Merkel said prompting calls from Austria to clarify its stance on asylum rules so that refugees were not given false hopes.
"There were rumors that Germany is even sending trains to Budapest to pick up refugees. It is all the more important, that Germany informs refugees in Hungary that Dublin has not been suspended," said Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner.
Earlier Berlin said it may give Syrian refugees special status. This caused confusion as Europe's so-called Dublin regulation states that migrants must seek asylum in the EU country in which they first arrive.
Meanwhile, Czech Republic President Milos Zeman declared that his country should defend its borders to prevent the migrant influx, and the EU isn’t coping with the issue.
“Of course I would wish for the EU to strengthen its borders, but I don’t see any real action. Therefore I believe the Czech Republic should take of its borders alone and expel illegal immigrants from the borders, including with the use of the army,” Zeman told journalists in Prague castle on Monday.
The refugee situation has been spiraling out of control this month across Europe. Last week, Austrian security forces discovered a truck with 71 bodies of migrants inside and had to tighten its eastern borders.
Migrants " parqués" à Budapest attendant que le gouvernement Hongrois les laisse partir pour l Allemagne pic.twitter.com/37cYw599jM [11]
— Nouga (@JeanJfwlyon) September 1, 2015 [12]
You gotta be white to ride train tonite in #Budapest [13], police block #SyrianRefugees [14] from Keleti station. pic.twitter.com/RInpZAf6Ko [15]
— Peter Bouckaert (@bouckap) September 1, 2015 [16]
Europe turns on desperate #Hungary [17] as thousands of migrants try to cross the border http://t.co/dwSBBW6FRQ [18] pic.twitter.com/Bnd6xzB3ai [19]
— Alix Culbertson (@alixculbertson) September 1, 2015 [20]
