- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/BUDAPEST MORNING Refugees travel through Budapest train station
- Date: 11th September 2015
- Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (SEPTEMBER 11, 2015) (REUTERS) POLICE STANDING AT END OF PLATFORM IN TRAIN STATION VARIOUS OF FAMILIES SITTING AND WAITING ON STAIRS IN TRAIN STATION PEOPLE QUEUING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING UP THE STAIRS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STATION PLATFORM VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BOARDING TRAIN (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN REFUGEE, RASHEED SAMAWI, SAYING: "Scared to be there [in Syria] and for my family. My father and mother and little brother are at Syria right now. And I hope I can let them go to Germany next year, I hope so." PEOPLE BOARDING TRAIN LITTLE BOY WITH FAMILY LOOKING OUT OF TRAIN WINDOW (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN REFUGEE, TAMAR, SAYING: "Hungary now is very, very good. We were afraid of Hungary. We listened to something wrong but [there's] no problem here. We came last night and we're going now. It's good. It's very good." FAMILIES WALKING DOWN PLATFORM MAN WAVING FROM TRAIN WINDOW TRAIN LEAVING
- Embargoed: 26th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Hungary
- Country: Hungary
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAEY2UUF82KD75GZ9G8FFNAHYOV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Refugees and migrants boarded trains at Budapest's Keleti railway station on Friday (September 11), as they made their way westwards through Europe.
With crowds next to the platform barriers on Thursday (September 10), Hungarian police inside Keleti had the migrants, most of whom are refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, queue fifty metres away, prioritising families with babies and small children to maintain order.
Many, including software developer Rasheed Samawi from Damascus, said they were heading for Germany and hoped to bring their families to join them.
"Scared to be there [in Syria] and for my family. My father and mother and little brother are at Syria right now. And I hope I can let them go to Germany next year, I hope so," said Samawi.
The queuing system seemed to work smoothly.
International law student Tamar, a refugee from Hama who hopes to complete his studies in the Netherlands to be close to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, said that it had gone well.
"Hungary now is very, very good. We were afraid of Hungary. We listened to something wrong but [there's] no problem here. We came last night and we're going now. It's good. It's very good," said the Atletico Madrid fan, sporting a scarf he had picked up in Serbia.
There have been growing signs of Hungary's inability to handle the flood of more than 170,000 people this year seeking sanctuary in Europe from war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
Last week, hundreds of angry migrants demonstrated outside Budapest's Eastern Railway Terminus, after police erected a blockade at the entrance.
Around 1,000 people waved tickets, demanding to be allowed to travel on the Germany.
Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said the closure was an attempt to enforce EU law.
Hungary has emerged as one of the main flashpoints of the refugee crisis as the primary gateway for migrants traveling over land through the Balkans and into the EU. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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