- Title: Stranded migrants in Serbia hope for a change in Hungary's policy after referendum
- Date: 3rd October 2016
- Summary: BELGRADE, SERBIA (OCTOBER 3, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WAITING FOR FOOD DISTRIBUTION TO BEGIN AID WORKER DISTRIBUTING FOOD CLOSE UP OF HAND DISTRIBUTING FOOD AID WORKER DISTRIBUTING FOOD VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING IN LINE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AFGHAN MIGRANT, NEKUBAL, SAYING: "We hope to hear good news a positive news for the refugee from the referendum side of the 2nd of October of referendum, from the Hungary side so they said the public vote they will give us the open border of Hungary and the refugee welcome to the European side." (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTANI MIGRANT, HASAN, SAYING: "We heard about that Hungarian border will be open, in a few days, now I woke up and somebody told me that they decided that it will not be opened." (SOUNDBITE) (English) AFGHAN MIGRANT, NASRAFGAN, SAYING: "We have humble request from these countries, which country closed the borders, we just please open the border now, humble request open the border, we would like to go out, we did we never do anything wrong we will just cross your border and we would like to see life in Europe nothing more than this." POLICEMEN WATCHING MIGRANTS (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) "INFO CENTAR" AID ORGANISATION SPOKESPERSON, IRENA VAR, SAYING: "They (migrants) are misinformed. They thought that referendum was about whether the border would be opened or not, so we have explained what the referendum was actually about, but they still hope for some change because that's the only thing they have." POLICE AT FOOD DISTRIBUTION POINT
- Embargoed: 18th October 2016 10:30
- Keywords: migrants Hungary referendum EU quotas border influx Viktor Orban
- Location: BELGRADE, SERBIA
- City: BELGRADE, SERBIA
- Country: Serbia
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00152GA2PZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of stranded migrants in Belgrade were disappointed on Monday (October 3) as they learned that the outcome of referendum in Hungary would not lead to the opening of the border, but still hoped for a change in Hungary's migration policy.
Many had understood it was a referendum on whether to open the borders or not instead of a referendum on accepting the EU migrant quotas or not, and showed disappointment as they approached a food distribution point in Serbia's capital.
"We heard about that Hungarian border will be open, in a few days, now I woke up and somebody told me that they decided that it will not be opened," Hasan, from Pakistan, told Reuters.
"We have humble request from these countries, which country closed the borders, we just please open the border now, humble request open the border, we would like to go out, we did we never do anything wrong we will just cross your border and we would like to see life in Europe nothing more than this," Nasrafgan, from Afghanistan, added.
Almost all Hungarians who voted in Sunday's referendum rejected the European Union's migrant quotas but turnout was too low to make the poll valid, frustrating Prime Minister Viktor Orban's hopes of a clear victory with which to challenge Brussels.
Last autumn, Serbia was a key staging post on the route into Europe, when hundreds of thousands trekked up through the rocky Balkan peninsular hoping to enter the European Union's passport-free Schengen zone by crossing into Hungary.
Numbers are lower this year, partly because of an agreement under which the European Union pays Turkey to house Syrian refugees, and partly because border fences along the route have made the journey harder. But the trickle is growing.
Some 7.000 migrants are stranded in Serbia and still hope to make it through Hungary on their way to Western Europe.
"Info Centar", an ad organisation that distributes food in Belgrade, has had to increase its food packages from 300 to almost 800 to 900 a day.
"They (migrants) are misinformed. They thought that referendum was about whether the border would be opened or not, so we have explained what the referendum was actually about, but they still hope for some change because that's the only thing they have," Irena Var, spokesperson for "Info Centar", told Reuters.
Since July, Serbian border guards have stopped more than 10,000 migrants attempting to cross from Bulgaria and Serbia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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