Hungarian Border Closed As Refugee Crisis Continues

The refugee crisis in Europe reached a new high as hundreds of refugees tried to enter through Hungary while chanting “open.” The main border crossing between Serbia and Hungary was closed recently with the crowd stuck in the no-man’s land along the border.

A Hungarian police officer said the main border crossing was the “property of the border police.” A sit-in was staged by some refugees demanding that they be given access through the border.

Thousands of refugees are on the Serbian side, waiting to be allowed to enter the European Union after their difficult and dangerous journey across Turkey and southern Europe to reach the border. While the refugees are not willing to go back, Serbia revealed it is unable to deal with the refugee crisis.

Aleksandar Vulin, Social Affairs Minister of Serbia, said the Hungarian government did not inform them that they will shut down the border. Serbia insisted that the border should remain open and the refugees be allowed to enter the EU.

Zoltan Kovacs, spokesman of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said while Hungary revealed that asylum claims of refugees will be processed at the official checkpoints, none of the claims have been processed. Orban added that he thinks majority of the people are migrants and not refugees. Orban also said he does not expect a good number of claimants to be given access.

Serbia-Hungary Border Closed - image credit: nbcnews.com

Numerous blankets, backpacks and clothing items lay abandoned along the road close to the crossing. The crossing became the main thoroughfare of refugees who were not monitored by Hungarian police as they crossed the border. Majority of those who crossed went directly to Western Europe.

However, the border was sealed by Hungary using a chain-link fence with razor wire, making the crossing nearly impossible. A state of emergency was declared in the southern counties of the country, which increased its troop presence. Hungary also imposed tougher laws to stem the flow of refugees.

Kovacs said Hungary is starting to control its natural borders again. He said the presence of the army and police along the border does not mean they will use force in dealing with the refugee crisis. UN refugee agency spokesperson Babar Baloch said providing access to people for the asylum process is the most important thing. He added that around 80 percent of the people trying to cross the border came from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. He added that they want Europe to act as one.

However, no agreement was reached among EU leaders in dealing with the refugee crisis. While Germany said it has opened its doors to the refugees, it insisted on using a quota system to ensure all EU countries take in some of the refugees. On the other hand, Hungary refused the idea and closed its borders.

As the fate of around 180,000 refugees who reached the EU this year remains uncertain, thousands are expected to arrive. Hundreds of refugees continue to arrive in Italy and Greece. Tuesday saw the death of at least 22 people off the Turkish coast. Majority of the refugees are aiming to reach Western Europe. With the closure of the Serbia-Hungary border, refugees have started to think about looking for other routes through Romania or Croatia. However, a plan is already being prepared in Hungary to close its border with Romania to deal with the current European refugee crisis.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday September 16 2015, 10:28 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0