- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/HUNGARY-SMUGGLERS Migrants describe their ordeal with smugglers
- Date: 28th August 2015
- Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (AUGUST 28, 2015) (REUTERS) MIGRANT WOMEN STANDING IN FRONT OF EASTERN RAILWAY STATION CLOTHES DRYING ON RAIL VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS CAMPING OUT IN TRANSIT ZONE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO BE IDENTIFIED, SAYING: "I ask people, they give me number of their (smuggler's) telephone and I ask him on telephone, but they want money before I go to Vienna. (Off-camera question: How much did they ask for?) 500 euros and some 550. And I have no money, not enough money to go to Vienna at this price. And some other say to us maybe we will take you to Germany, but the cost is very high." CHILD HOLDING ONTO MOTHER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO BE IDENTIFIED, SAYING: "No, in a car. Because in a truck it's very dangerous for our children. In a car is special, more comfort, more safe, yeah." VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS AT STATION (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIGRATION AID DEPUTY SPOKESMAN, MARTON MATYASOVSZKY, SAYING: "Half of the refugees don't want to go to camp and they say that they are waiting for a friend. And this friend is also a smuggler. We see them on the railway station, we try to send them away. It was really effective for two or three days, but they came back. Where the smugglers are really active is the Keleti railway station, that's why all the refugees who don't want to go to camp go to Keleti railway station, because that's the place where they can get information about how they can get to Austria or Germany or Belgium." WARSAW, POLAND (AUGUST 28, 2015) (REUTERS)? ?9. ?EXTERIOR OF EU BORDER AGENCY FRONTEX HEADQUARTERS FRONTEX AND EU FLAGS VARIOUS OF ENTRANCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRONTEX SPOKESPERSON, IZABELLA COOPER, SAYING: "So these are very, very dramatic twenty-four hours and judging from the situation that we are currently experiencing... You know, we have to be prepared for further tragedies, sadly." ENTRANCE TO FRONTEX OFFICE
- Embargoed: 12th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Poland
- Country: Poland
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA93QO1UH7TDLK081HXJVOLUFDC
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: As refugees and migrants continued to sweep north through the Balkans, some who had made it to Hungary rested in a make-shift camp at a Budapest railway station on Friday (August 28), waiting to continue their journey towards the more affluent countries of northern and western Europe.
For many, this will mean turning to people-smugglers to take them across the border in exchange for large sums of money.
The price was impossibly high for one woman from Syria, who explained how she made contact with a smuggler over the phone.
"I ask people, they give me number of their (smuggler's) telephone and I ask him on telephone, but they want money before I go to Vienna … (They asked for) 500 euros and some 550. And I have no money, not enough money to go to Vienna at this price. And some other say to us maybe we will take you to Germany, but the cost is very high," the woman, who did not want to be named, told Reuters.
It is not only a question of hard cash - for some, the cost will be much higher, with smugglers cramming large numbers of people into small vehicles and transporting them in undignified, often dangerous conditions.
The last tragedy happened in Austria, where 71 people including a baby girl were found dead in an abandoned freezer truck, most likely refugees from Syria.
The Syrian woman hoping to get to Vienna said she was now too afraid to travel in a truck because of the danger this could pose for her children.
"In a truck it's very dangerous for our children. In a car is special, more comfort, more safe, yeah," she said.
Despite their fears, many refugees feel they have no choice but to take the risk and travel with the smugglers.
A spokesman from Migration Aid said attempts to drive the smugglers away from the station had met with little success.
"It was really effective for two or three days, but they came back. Where the smugglers are really active is the Keleti railway station, that's why all the refugees who don't want to go to camp go to Keleti railway station, because that's the place where they can get information about how they can get to Austria or Germany or Belgium," Marton Matyasovszky told Reuters.
Thousands of Syrians, Afghans and Pakistanis have crossed from Serbia into EU-member Hungary in recent days, where authorities said more than 140,000 had been caught entering the country so far this year.
Hungary is building a high fence along its border with Serbia to confront what it says is a threat to European security, prosperity and identity. It plans to tighten laws next week to curb migration pressure on the country, including using the army if needed near the southern border, lawmakers said on Friday.
Europe has been rocked by a series of migrant tragedies in recent days. As well as the truck deaths in Austria, Libya recovered the bodies of 82 migrants washed ashore after their overcrowded boat sank on its way to Europe and scores more were feared dead.
At least 180 were either dead or missing in the Libyan disaster. Both tragedies were a result of a renewed surge in migrants seeking refuge from war and poverty that has confronted Europe with its worst refugee crisis since World War Two.
A spokeswoman from border agency Frontex said Europe must brace itself for further catastrophes as the situation currently stands.
"So these are very, very dramatic twenty-four hours and judging from the situation that we are currently experiencing... You know, we have to be prepared for further tragedies, sadly," Izabella Cooper said.
The U.N. refugee agency said the number of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe had passed 300,000 this year, up from 219,000 in the whole of 2014. It said more than 2,500 people have died making the sea crossing this year, compared with 3,500 who died or went missing in the Mediterranean in 2014. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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