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| Refugee crisis: Hungary to bus people to Austrian border after over 1,200 people start 135km walk after international trains blocked | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Hungary has made the unexpected decision to bus refugees to the Austrian border, after over a thousand people blocked from boarding international trains from the capital took matters into their own hands and embarked on the 135km (85mile) journey by foot. | |
| The government dispatched the buses after a nearly half-mile- long line of people streamed from the Keleti rail station in Budapest onto a main road on Friday. | |
| A separate hundred-person-strong group in the town of Bicske overwhelmed police officers at a train station near a migrant reception centre, and headed west. | |
| Elsewhere in the southern village of Roszke, riot police used tear gas against refugees as they attempted to flee a camp on Friday. Some 300 people successfully broke out of the facility, but police officers said they later caught the group, Sky News reported. | |
| Images from the scene outside Budapest on Friday afternoon showed desperate refugees, both young and old, clutching their belongings as they started the gruelling walk to Austria, from where many are expected to head to Germany. | Images from the scene outside Budapest on Friday afternoon showed desperate refugees, both young and old, clutching their belongings as they started the gruelling walk to Austria, from where many are expected to head to Germany. |
| Some were braving the walk barefoot, while others appeared determined to cross the border despite being in wheelchairs or on crutches. | Some were braving the walk barefoot, while others appeared determined to cross the border despite being in wheelchairs or on crutches. |
| Faced with the consequences of an unprecedented number of people travelling across the country by foot, the Hungarian government said that around 100 buses would arrive in the coming hours to pick up both the refugees at Keleti and the 1,200 who had set off walking. | |
| But Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff Janos Lazar warned that the service does not mean the asylum seekers can cross over into the country. | |
| “This does not automatically mean that they can leave the country,” he added. “We are waiting for the Austrian government's response.” | “This does not automatically mean that they can leave the country,” he added. “We are waiting for the Austrian government's response.” |
| The mass exodus was in response to attempts by the Hungarian authorities to prevent thousands of people from boarding international trains, as refugees – many from war-torn Syria – sought refuge in western Europe. | The mass exodus was in response to attempts by the Hungarian authorities to prevent thousands of people from boarding international trains, as refugees – many from war-torn Syria – sought refuge in western Europe. |
| Hungary has been a land entry point to the EU for tens of thousands of refugees. The situation in Hungary has gradually escalated since the beginning of the week, when officials started blocking refugees from boarding international trains from Keleti, and people were forced to camp outside the station. | Hungary has been a land entry point to the EU for tens of thousands of refugees. The situation in Hungary has gradually escalated since the beginning of the week, when officials started blocking refugees from boarding international trains from Keleti, and people were forced to camp outside the station. |
| Migrants walk on the railway tracks near Bicske (Image: EPA/BALAZS MOHAI ) Ticket-holders were allowed to board trains which they believed were heading to Austria and Germany on Thursday, but were stopped at the Biscke - the location of a camp for asylum seekers. There, police ordered passengers to register their applications before they could legally travel on to other Schengen-area countries. | Migrants walk on the railway tracks near Bicske (Image: EPA/BALAZS MOHAI ) Ticket-holders were allowed to board trains which they believed were heading to Austria and Germany on Thursday, but were stopped at the Biscke - the location of a camp for asylum seekers. There, police ordered passengers to register their applications before they could legally travel on to other Schengen-area countries. |
| The government has defended its crackdown, and said it is attempting to implement the Dublin Regulation, which states that asylum seekers must be registered in the first country they enter. | |
| But many are keen to avoid remaining in Hungary, which is economically depressed and is more likely to return refugees to their countries of origin. | |
| “The government of Hungary is very bad,” said Morzar, who studied pharmacology at Aleppo's university. “The United Nations should help.” | “The government of Hungary is very bad,” said Morzar, who studied pharmacology at Aleppo's university. “The United Nations should help.” |
| The country’s parliament has responded to this week's turmoil by tightening its immigration rules, approving the creation of transit zones on the Hungarian border with Serbia where refugees would be kept until their asylum requests were decided within eight days. | The country’s parliament has responded to this week's turmoil by tightening its immigration rules, approving the creation of transit zones on the Hungarian border with Serbia where refugees would be kept until their asylum requests were decided within eight days. |
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| Additional reporting by PA | Additional reporting by PA |