Hungary suspends trains to Germany, stops refugees from entering railway station

On Tuesday, the Hungarian authorities suspended all Germany-bound trains from the main railway station in Budapest and kept hundreds of refugees from entering the station. The move to keep the refugees from travelling to Germany came after the Hungarian Foreign minister planned to register all refugees and send the economic refugees back to the state from where they entered Hungary.

The refugees gathered in large numbers outside the station were shouting, “Germany, Germany,” while others yelled, “freedom, freedom.” AP reported that a large number of them even complained that they have spent hundreds of euros to get the tickets.

The Hungarian authorities at first kept the railway station closed. However, they later re-opened it but did not let the refugees enter. Earlier on Tuesday, clashes took place between the migrants and the forces as the migrants tried to push their way through to get into the station and board a Vienna bound train that was about to pull out.

The move by the Hungarian authorities is a complete turnaround after it started allowing migrants to travel to northern Europe by train without putting them through the asylum procedures. The decision to disallow the migrants to move north came as a result of pressure from other nations of the European Union who are struggling to cope with the sudden influx of migrants.

Around 3,650 migrants came to Vienna from Hungary on Monday, according to the local sources, but the majority of them are headed for Germany. Meanwhile, the Austrian authorities have stopped two trains carrying a few hundred migrants to check their papers. Those who have been registered at the refugee processing facilities in Budapest were sent back and the rest were allowed to carry on with their journey.

Hassan, a 47-year-old Syrian migrant, said he, along with his two other friends, had spent a total of 370 euros (AU$594.14) to buy train tickets to Germany. “They took 125 euros for each ticket to Munich or Berlin, then they stopped and forced us from station,” he said. “(They) said station is closed. They said no trains, this station is closed.”

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