Fury as Hungary becomes migrant 'gateway to EU' taking 50,000 in August alone
HUNGARY has hit back at Austria and France for accusing its government of not doing enough to quell the 8000 refugees who have attempted to get into Europe through their border over the past three days.
The eastern European country has lashed out at Austria and France for accusing Hungarian authorities of not dealing with the massive groups of migrants and allowing them to travel freely into Austria.
Desperate migrants have been protesting today outside the Keleti train station in Budapest after officials shut it down and stopped all trains, while police cleared out hundreds of people from the building.
Chaos has ensued, with migrants chanting "Freedom! Freedom" and demanding to use the train tickets they have spent hundreds of euros on to travel to neighbouring Austria and on to Germany.
The eastern European country is the primary gateway for migrants travelling over land through the Balkans and into the EU, with officials saying more than 156,000 migrants have entered the country this year, 50,000 in August alone.
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The turmoil has led to hundreds of migrants becoming stranded outside the train station.
Dramatic pictures from the scene show families sleeping on blankets on the floor as they ponder their next move and how they will reach EU states.
The Interior Ministry said today around 142,000 have requested asylum, including 45,000 from Syria.
Levente Magyar, Hungary's minister of state for economic diplomacy, said: "Hungary has to reject every charge stating the Government is not doing enough to deal with the immigrant situation.
"Austria is the second federate country in 24-hours who has used unacceptable phrases about Hungary's immigrant politics.
"And both these countries are dealing with a lot less illegal immigrant pressure than us."
Hungary: Refugee influx prompts police to shut down Budapest main station
His comments come after Austrian chancellor, Werner Faymann said: "Allowing them to simply board in Budapest, and watching as they are taken to the neighbour in Austria - that's not politics."
French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, criticised Hungary on Sunday for setting up a 175km long, four-metre high fence on its Serbian border to thwart the migrant inflow.
He said refugees have to be welcomed by European countries and added: "France, Germany, others have responded to that, but when I see certain countries that do not accept these groups, I find that scandalous.
"I take a very dim view, a very dim view. Hungary is part of Europe. Europe has values and these values are not respected by putting up wire fences."
Today marked a clear turnaround from Monday when thousands of migrants were being let onto trains without visas or tickets being checked as they headed for Vienna and Munich, with football-hooligan style chants of "Germany! Germany!" ringing through the station.
Clashes between police and migrants broke out over the weekend, but on Monday police vanished, according to witnesses, who saw migrants in their hundreds cause a crush as they stormed trains.
If we don’t succeed in fairly distributing refugees then of course the Schengen question will be on the agenda for many
A small boy was separated by his family in the crush as police tried to clear migrants from Budapest's main train station.
Baba Mujhse, an Arabic-speaking Egyptian-Hungarian-Jewish volunteer, found him and carried him to safety.
As he desperately looked for the little boy's family he said: "This is crazy. This is not a solution to anything."
Scores of migrants have spent several hundred euros on train tickets but have been banned today from travelling as they do not have valid documents.
Some spent the cash after being assured by police yesterday that they would be allowed through.
It follows Austria toughening-up its stance against the migrants, with the country also implementing road blocks.
Traffic jams up to 30 miles long built up on roads between Hungary and Austria yesterday as police stepped up searches to stop gangs of people smugglers trafficking migrants through Europe.
Two trains with several hundred migrants on board were stopped in Austria just after they travelled over the border from Hungary.
Austrian police checked papers of the migrants, with many not having EU visas.
Others had already registered as a refugee in Hungary and would be returned to Budapest.
Under EU rules, knows as the Dublin provision, refugees must stay in the first European country they enter while their application is processed.
But many are trying to make it to Germany and flout asylum seeker laws.
Angela Merkel is now considering bringing back border checks across the Schengen area of Europe - which sees freedom of movement between most EU member states.
Mrs Merkel made the threat to change the core EU prinicipal in a bid to make member countries share the number of refugees coming to Europe.
Thousands of migrants are reaching the shores of Italy and Greece every day, with many more then making the journey across the continent aiming for Germany and Britain.
It is estimated 800,000 migrants will enter Germany this year, more than any other year, and the most out of any EU country.
Mrs Merkel said: "If we don’t succeed in fairly distributing refugees then of course the Schengen question will be on the agenda for many.
"Europe as a whole must move and its states must share the responsibility for refugees seeking asylum.
"Universal civil rights so far have been closely linked with Europe and its history - it was one of the founding motives of the European Union.
"If Europe fails on the question of refugees, this close connection with universal civil rights will be destroyed and it won't be the Europe we want."
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who has announced plans for a refugee centre in Calais, said nations needed to show more compassion while stopping migrants in their tracks.
He said: "The responsibility of us all is to make sure the right to asylum is respected everywhere. One cannot avoid it with barbed wire."
Last night 214 migrants were arrested by Czech police coming from Hungary and Austria as they tried to pass through the Czech town of Breclav.
Most were from Syria and headed to Berlin. There were 115 men, 38 women and 61 children.
Those with incorrect travel documents will be sent to the country's migrant centres.
Greece is on the verge of erupting into similar chaotic scenes as 1,500 migrants gather to cross the border to Macedonia and attempt to follow the now well-trodden asylum-seeker path.
Fights have broken out among the crowd near the Greek village of Idomeni as hundreds of people, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, tried to rush through Macedonian police.
