EUROPE-MIGRANTS/SERBIA-HUNGARY BORDER Refugees walk along railway tracks near Serbia's border with Hungary
Record ID:
140028
EUROPE-MIGRANTS/SERBIA-HUNGARY BORDER Refugees walk along railway tracks near Serbia's border with Hungary
- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/SERBIA-HUNGARY BORDER Refugees walk along railway tracks near Serbia's border with Hungary
- Date: 11th September 2015
- Summary: SERBIA-HUNGARY BORDER NEAR HORGOS, SERBIA (SEPTEMBER 11, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING ALONG RAILWAY TRACKS MAN CARRYING CHILD ON SHOULDERS WRAPPED IN BLANKET CHILD AND WOMAN WALKING ALONG RAILWAY TRACKS VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING ALONG RAILWAY TRACKS SMALL BOY WAVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM DAMASCUS (SYRIA), YASER, SAYING: "It's very crowded. There are a lot of people coming out, you know, just saying 'we are travelling, travelling, we don't want to keep in our cities'. A lot of them are from Aleppo, from Homs, different parts of Syria, they all... literally destroyed, literally destroyed. They are…the cities are underground." MIGRANTS WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM DAMASCUS (SYRIA), YASER, SAYING: "It's a lot of people, I will imagine that I have seen above 3,000." (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM DAMASCUS (SYRIA), YAHJA, SAYING: "Today the taxi [driver] say about 5,000 people came to Serbia, to go to Hungary (YASER ADDING - "Yesterday." (JOURNALIST ASKING: "YOU ARE READY TO WALK FOR DAYS?") (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM DAMASCUS (SYRIA), YASER, SAYING: "Yes, no problem, even if we have to walk for weeks and sleep on the ground - no problem." 9 MAN WITH THREE CHILDREN WALKING ALONG RAILWAY TRACKS MIGRANTS WALKING ALONG RAILWAY TRACKS
- Embargoed: 26th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Serbia
- Country: Serbia
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA2SBY6XLYWC3PBSY4KF2FMXIEF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of refugees approached Hungary on foot on Friday (September 11), walking along train tracks on the Serbian side of the border near Horgos.
Carrying the few possessions they were able to bring with them, crowds of people including small children headed for European Union member Hungary, from where they hope to reach western Europe.
Many of them are from Syria, fleeing intensified violence in the civil war that has been raging there since 2011.
"It's very crowded. There are a lot of people coming out, you know, just saying 'we are travelling, travelling, we don't want to keep in our cities'. A lot of them are from Aleppo, from Homs, different parts of Syria, they all... literally destroyed, literally destroyed. They are… the cities are underground," one refugee from Damascus, Yaser, said.
He added that he believed he had seen more than 3,000 people crossing into Serbia on Thursday (September 10). Many of them have been on the road for weeks, travelling up through the Balkans trying to reach the EU.
"No problem, even if we have to walk for weeks and sleep on the ground - no problem," Yaser said.
But the next hurdle on their route before reaching the EU's passport-free Schengen zone is Serbia's border with Hungary, which Hungarian authorities have reinforced by constructing a fence and stepping up patrols, arresting hundreds who try crossing it on foot.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned on Friday that his police would take tougher action from next week against a wave of migrants who he said had rebelled against authorities, seized railway stations and refused to be registered.
More than 170,000 migrants have crossed into Hungary from Serbia so far this year. Most try to avoid being registered in Hungary for fear of being stranded there or returned there later on, encouraged by a temporary agreement by Germany and Austria to accept refugees. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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