EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA-AFGHAN FAMILY Afghan refugee warns others against making dangerous journey to Europe

Record ID: 141742

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA-AFGHAN FAMILY Afghan refugee warns others against making dangerous journey to Europe
  • Date: 6th September 2015
  • Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (SEPTEMBER 6, 2015) (REUTERS) OUTSIDE OF KELETI STATION / TENTS AND ITEMS BELONGING TO MIGRANTS CHILDREN PLAYING BALL GAMES WOMEN TALKING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING INTERIOR OF STATION / PEOPLE READING SIGNS VARIOUS OF MAPS SHOWING WAY TO AUSTRIA IN STATION / HAND-WRITTEN SIGNS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT SIGNS MIGRANT, HAMED ABEID-ULLAH, FROM AFGHANISTAN, WITH FRIENDS LOOKING AT TRAIN TICKET TICKET (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE , HAMED ABEID-ULLAH, AGED 20, FROM AFGHANISTAN, SAYING: "This is a very bad way that we are coming here. And this is my message to all Afghanis everywhere, if they are from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, from everywhere, because this is really bad way, this is dangerous. A hundred percent you have to be... think that it is that we should have to be killed or everything will happen in the way because there are a lot of in forest, maybe animals will eat, maybe there are a lot of people they will kill robbers, everything, everything will happen. But my message especially for them that be in your country and this is good to be in your own country." PEOPLE LOOKING THROUGH CLOTHES OUTSIDE STATION STEPS WITH WRITING ON THE WALL WRITING ON THE WALL READING (English): "THANK YOU PEOPLE OF HUNGARY" VOLUNTEERS WORKING WITH MIGRANT CHILDREN WOMEN / CHILDREN LITTLE BOY VOLUNTEERS WORKING WITH FAMILIES (SOUNDBITE) (English) VOLUNTEER, ROSA SANDERS, AGED 29, FROM LONDON, SAYING: "The country, there is a lot of support here, but there is a big fear in me when people are going to the refugee camps and on the road, it does scare me who they come into contact with and their safety. Because it's unpredictable. There's, you know, there are good people and there are bad people in each country but Hungary is predominantly quite white so it is quite concerning some of the media and the government's opinion on the situation. I don't think they have taken a mature grasp of it. And I think they are trying to blame other people rather than creating a solution. But as you look around here, there are fantastic people, volunteers and people with really good hearts are coming here with fantastic ideas and programmes so there's a bit of both really." ELDERLY WOMAN HOLDING DOLL FOR CHILD PEOPLE STANDING NEAR A SIGN READING (English/Arabic): "MEDICAL AID" SIGN READING (English/Arabic): "MEDICAL AID" MEN IN KELETI STATION / POLICE
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Hungary
  • Country: Hungary
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4UE1S6T6GZA8IJ2S7D6R3HPOL
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The number of migrants arriving at Keleti station to continue their journey to Austria and on to Germany lessened on Sunday (September 6) after borders were opened to thousands of migrants from the east who had been held in Hungary for days.
    Last week, scuffles between police and migrants took place as thousands tried to squeeze on trains.
    But by Sunday, the station was empty with just a few migrants buying tickets for a train to Hegyeshalom on the border of Austria.
    One person travelling to Austria to continue on to Germany was Hamed Abeid-Ullah, 20, from Afghanistan who, with some friends travelled through Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia.
    His message for other people considering making the journey to Europe was to stay in their countries, warning them of many dangers.
    "This is a very bad way that we are coming here. And this is my message to all Afghanis everywhere, if they are from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, from everywhere, because this is really bad way, this is dangerous. A hundred percent you have to be... think that it is that we should have to be killed or everything will happen in the way because there are a lot of in forest, maybe animals will eat, maybe there are a lot of people they will kill robbers, everything, everything will happen. But my message especially for them that be in your country and this is good to be in your own country," he said.
    Hundreds of thousands of refugees from wars in the Middle East, along with economic migrants fleeing poverty in Africa and Asia, have braved the Mediterranean Sea and land routes across the Balkans to reach the European Union. Thousands have died at sea and scores have perished on land.
    Nearly all first reach the EU's southern and eastern edges before pressing on for richer and more generous countries further north and west, above all Germany, which has emphasised its moral duty to accept those fleeing genuine peril.
    Europe's worst refugee crisis since the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s has strained the European Union's asylum system to breaking point, dividing its 28 nations and feeding the rise of right-wing populists.
    Briton Rosa Sanders, 29, and part Hungarian, decided to volunteer to support migrants in Budapest while on holiday.
    She said she was concerned about the safety of migrants as they travelled around the country.
    "There is a lot of support here, but there is a big fear in me when people are going to the refugee camps and on the road, it does scare me who they come into contact with and their safety. Because it's unpredictable," Sanders said.
    Hungary emerged as the primary entry point for those reaching the EU overland across the Balkans, and its right-wing government has become one of the most vocal on the continent opposing large-scale immigration.
    "There's, you know, there are good people and there are bad people in each country but Hungary is predominantly quite white so it is quite concerning some of the media and the government's opinion on the situation. I don't think they have taken a mature grasp of it. And I think they are trying to blame other people rather than creating a solution," she said.
    "But as you look around here, there are fantastic people, volunteers and people with really good hearts are coming here with fantastic ideas and programmes so there's a bit of both really," she added.
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