This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/03/hungary-train-diverts-refugees-back-to-camp
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Hungary train 'diverts' refugees back to camp | Hungary train 'diverts' refugees back to camp |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Hungarian authorities appeared to trick hundreds of people into taking a train to a refugee camp outside Budapest on Thursday in an attempt to end a two-day standoff at the capital’s main rail station where thousands have been trying to get to western Europe. | Hungarian authorities appeared to trick hundreds of people into taking a train to a refugee camp outside Budapest on Thursday in an attempt to end a two-day standoff at the capital’s main rail station where thousands have been trying to get to western Europe. |
| There was confusion at Keleti rail terminus in the morning when departures were initially cancelled and then passengers piled on to a newly arrived train they hoped would take them to Austria or Germany. | There was confusion at Keleti rail terminus in the morning when departures were initially cancelled and then passengers piled on to a newly arrived train they hoped would take them to Austria or Germany. |
| Instead, the train stopped in the town of Bicske, outside the capital, where riot police were waiting to take the refugees to an overcrowded facility that many had left a few days earlier in the hope of finding sanctuary in Germany. | Instead, the train stopped in the town of Bicske, outside the capital, where riot police were waiting to take the refugees to an overcrowded facility that many had left a few days earlier in the hope of finding sanctuary in Germany. |
| Related: Hungarian police order refugees off train heading to Austrian border | Related: Hungarian police order refugees off train heading to Austrian border |
| There were chaotic scenes at the station when one man pulled his wife and child on to the tracks, begging police not to force them to go to the camp. “We won’t move from here,” he shouted repeatedly. The man was later handcuffed and taken away by officers. | |
| A large group of people was surrounded in a hot and cramped underpass leading out of the station, chanting “no camp, no camp”. Other passengers clashed with police and forced their way back on to the train to begin a standoff in the sweltering heat. Police brought water but many of the migrants refused to take the bottles, vowing to go on hunger strike. | A large group of people was surrounded in a hot and cramped underpass leading out of the station, chanting “no camp, no camp”. Other passengers clashed with police and forced their way back on to the train to begin a standoff in the sweltering heat. Police brought water but many of the migrants refused to take the bottles, vowing to go on hunger strike. |
| Later, volunteers tried to offer them food but people refused to eat “We don’t need food and water. Just let us go to Germany,” one said from an open train window. | Later, volunteers tried to offer them food but people refused to eat “We don’t need food and water. Just let us go to Germany,” one said from an open train window. |
| Hungarian police declared the area an “operation zone” and removed reporters from the station. Later, they allowed the press to gather on a platform. About 100 people were on the opposite platform and about 50 riot police blocked the route across the tracks. | |
| The travellers on the train resorted to holding signs up against the train windows, which said “no camp for children” and “save our souls, we are children”. | The travellers on the train resorted to holding signs up against the train windows, which said “no camp for children” and “save our souls, we are children”. |
| Police told the rightwing HirTV channel that they were waiting for the press to leave before taking the migrants to the camp at Bicske. The refugees chanted “media, media, don’t leave!” and held anti-Hungarian government slogans against the train windows. One of them said: “It is better to die in Syria than in Hungary.” | Police told the rightwing HirTV channel that they were waiting for the press to leave before taking the migrants to the camp at Bicske. The refugees chanted “media, media, don’t leave!” and held anti-Hungarian government slogans against the train windows. One of them said: “It is better to die in Syria than in Hungary.” |
| Two miles across town, a staff member at the refugee campdisclosed that they had been prepared for the manoeuvre, saying she had been told to get to work early in expectation of a sudden influx of migrants. | |
| Outside the camp gates, a young Hungarian mother of three children, from Tatabanya, said she had diverted her trip after hearing the news on the radio. “I had been planning to go to Keleti station to drop off some clothes,” she said, “but then I heard that the migrants were being taken here I decided to make a detour.” Conditions at the camp, where many refugees are sleeping in tents, are said to be amongt the worst in Hungary. | |
| “Why does Hungary keep us here when they don’t have the money to look after us,” asked a 30-year-old Iranian man. “Here we get 6,000 forints a week to live from, we never get an evening meal, and often we don’t have water. I have been here for five months, and I have never had any medical help for this,” he said, knocking on his prosthetic leg. | “Why does Hungary keep us here when they don’t have the money to look after us,” asked a 30-year-old Iranian man. “Here we get 6,000 forints a week to live from, we never get an evening meal, and often we don’t have water. I have been here for five months, and I have never had any medical help for this,” he said, knocking on his prosthetic leg. |
| In Budapest, police had hoped to entice many more of the estimated 3,000 people camping outside Keleti to leave on Thursday. Conditions at the terminal have become increasingly desperate despite the presence of volunteers distributing water, food, medicine and disinfectants. | In Budapest, police had hoped to entice many more of the estimated 3,000 people camping outside Keleti to leave on Thursday. Conditions at the terminal have become increasingly desperate despite the presence of volunteers distributing water, food, medicine and disinfectants. |
| The Associated Press reported seeing a toddler beside his sleeping parents crawling on to the pavement to eat breadcrumbs. Nearby, an unattended child rummaged through a pile of rubbish. Hundreds of people took turns washing their hair, clothes and feet and brushing their teeth at a five-tap water supply (with no sewerage system) that was supposed to provide drinking water for the entire camp. | |
| The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in Brussels for crisis talks, defended the heavyhanded tactics, adding that other politicians should not criticise Hungary for doing “what was compulsory” under EU regulations. | The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in Brussels for crisis talks, defended the heavyhanded tactics, adding that other politicians should not criticise Hungary for doing “what was compulsory” under EU regulations. |
| But Hungarian citizens showed their disapproval of the way the refugees were treated. In Budapest, several people went to the station to help. ”I am just really ashamed about the government, that they don’t help these people at all,” said Barbara Baranyai, 31, who had made a collection of baby clothes, shoes, fruit, biscuits and blankets in her neighbourhood and travelled about 20 miles to the station. | |
| “Due to the hate-generating speech of the Hungarian government, they have turned people against these refugees,” said Baranyai, who was making the distribution with her own 15-month-old son strapped to her back. “I see other countries handling it much better. If I imagine I had to go with my child, crossing seas and walking, then staying like this, living at the station so long, the thought is unbearable.” She broke down in tears. | “Due to the hate-generating speech of the Hungarian government, they have turned people against these refugees,” said Baranyai, who was making the distribution with her own 15-month-old son strapped to her back. “I see other countries handling it much better. If I imagine I had to go with my child, crossing seas and walking, then staying like this, living at the station so long, the thought is unbearable.” She broke down in tears. |