TANGAZO


Friday, September 4, 2015

The march of the migrants: Furious refugees abandon Budapest station and declare they will WALK 100 miles to Austria after Hungarian authorities block them from travelling to Germany

.Hundreds of migrants who have been stuck in Budapest for days have started marching towards Austria on foot

  • .Set out from Keleti railway station after Hungarian authorities blocked them from boarding western-bound trains
  • .Meanwhile, a stand-off continued for a second day at the station in Bicske, a town north west of Budapest
  • .Migrants have escaped from two refugee camps and made a dash for the border as chaos gripped the country
Hundreds of furious migrants who have been stuck in Budapest for days have started marching out of the city, vowing to make it to Austria on foot.
Carrying their belongings, they set out from Keleti railway station after Hungarian authorities blocked them from boarding western-bound trains.
They snaked through the capital in a line stretching nearly half a mile as they began the 100-mile journey to the Austrian border.
Angry: Hundreds of  migrants who have been stuck in Budapest for days have started marching out of the city in a bid to make it to Austria
Angry: Hundreds of migrants who have been stuck in Budapest for days have started marching out of the city in a bid to make it to Austria
The migrants snaked through the capital in a line stretching nearly half a mile as they began the 100-mile journey to the Austrian border
Set out from the railways station carrying their belongings after Hungarian authorities blocked them from boarding western-bound trains
Set out from the railways station carrying their belongings after Hungarian authorities blocked them from boarding western-bound trains
The refugees are trying to avoid registering in Hungary, which is economically depressed and more likely to return them to their home countries than many western European nations.
One man, 23-year-old Osama Morzar, from Aleppo, Syria, was so determined not to be registered in Hungary that he removed his fingerprints with acid, holding up smooth finger pads as proof.
'The government of Hungary is very bad,' said Mr Morzar. 'The United Nations should help.' 
Conditions are becoming more squalid at the station as 3,000 people remain camped out as they wait for a decision by Hungarian authorities on their fates. Some families pitched tents, with children playing nearby.
Meanwhile, a stand-off continued for a second day at the station in Bicske, a town north west of Budapest that holds one of the country's five camps for asylum seekers.
Hundreds of people sat on a train there, some with tickets they had purchased to Berlin or Vienna. Although some eventually relented and registered at the asylum centre, most were determined not to. 
Hundreds of migrants pictured marching through the streets of Budapest having remained in the city for days because they are not allowed to get on trains heading west
Hundreds of migrants pictured marching through the streets of Budapest having remained in the city for days because they are not allowed to get on trains heading west
Migrants cross the Erzsebet bridge in Budapest, Hungary, as they head for Austria on foot after not being allowed to travel by train
Migrants cross the Erzsebet bridge in Budapest, Hungary, as they head for Austria on foot after not being allowed to travel by train
'The situation is so bad,' said Adnan Shanan, a 35-year-old from Latakia, Syria. 'We have so many sick people on the train. We have pregnant women, no food, no water.
'We don't need to stay here one more day. We need to move to Munich, to anywhere else, we can't stay here. We can't wait until tomorrow. We need a decision today, now.'
Furious at their treatment, they began chanting 'Germany! Germany!' – their intended destination after a treacherous journey of hundreds miles.
Others brandished placards with the words 'SOS' and 'Help!' while another held by a child read: 'I need to go to Germany for life.' Police handed out water bottles but some migrants poured it onto the ground in disgust. Children were handed cuddly toys by authorities.
And hundreds of migrants have escaped from two refugee camps in the country and made a dash for the border as chaos gripped the country.
In farcical scenes, dozens of families clambered over a fence at a processing reception near the town of Bicske just moments after they had been dropped off on buses by the Hungarian authorities. 
Police handed out cuddly toys to children and water bottles but some migrants poured their drinks onto the ground in disgust
Police handed out cuddly toys to children and water bottles but some migrants poured their drinks onto the ground in disgust
Making a dash for it: Migrants jump over a fence to escape a refugee camp in the Hungarian town of Bicske to avoid being processed
Making a dash for it: Migrants jump over a fence to escape a refugee camp in the Hungarian town of Bicske to avoid being processed
Drastic action: Carrying just a few possessions, they climbed the five-foot high picket fence before making their way off
Drastic action: Carrying just a few possessions, they climbed the five-foot high picket fence before making their way off
Farcial: As soon as the group departed from the bus which brought them to the camp, they made a dash for the exit
Farcial: As soon as the group departed from the bus which brought them to the camp, they made a dash for the exit
The scenes in Bicske come as Hungary's Prime Minister warned the influx of Muslim refugees was threatening Europe's 'Christian roots'
The scenes in Bicske come as Hungary's Prime Minister warned the influx of Muslim refugees was threatening Europe's 'Christian roots'
 Desperate: Hungarian lawmakers debated tough new anti-immigration measures on Friday , including criminalising illegal border crossings
 Desperate: Hungarian lawmakers debated tough new anti-immigration measures on Friday , including criminalising illegal border crossings
Meanwhile, around 300 others broke out of a camp in Roskze, on the Serbia border, and ran for the motorway in their bid to reach Austrian hundreds of miles away.
Officials said the refugees fled in two groups at around 9.30am GMT, adding that police have taken 'the necessary steps' to detain them. 
It came as Hungary's Prime Minister warned the influx of Muslim migrants was threatening 'Christian roots' and would leave Europeans a 'minority on their own continent'. 
Viktor Orban described the wave of refugees as 'endless' and warned that 'many tens of millions' more would come if the EU did not protect its borders.
In an opinion piece for Germany's Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung, Orban wrote that his country was being 'overrun' with refugees, noting that most were Muslims, while 'Europe and European culture have Christian roots'. 
'We must not forget that those who are coming in have been brought up under a different religion and represent a profoundly different culture,' wrote the conservative Hungarian leader.
Wave of discontent: Dozens of migrants march to the gates before jumping out from inside a refugee camp in Bicske, Hungary
Wave of discontent: Dozens of migrants march to the gates before jumping out from inside a refugee camp in Bicske, Hungary
As soon as the group departed from the bus which brought them, they made a dash for the exit, some carrying children on their shoulders
As soon as the group departed from the bus which brought them, they made a dash for the exit, some carrying children on their shoulders
Dozens of migrants march to the gates after being dropped off by bus before jumping out from inside a refugee camp in Bicske, Hungary
Dozens of migrants march to the gates after being dropped off by bus before jumping out from inside a refugee camp in Bicske, Hungary
The refugees are trying to avoid the centres because they do not want to pursue asylum claims in Hungary, which is economically depressed
The refugees are trying to avoid the centres because they do not want to pursue asylum claims in Hungary, which is economically depressed
The migrants had been transported to the refugee camp in Bicske, 20 miles west of Budapest, to be processed
The migrants had been transported to the refugee camp in Bicske, 20 miles west of Budapest, to be processed
For days, Hungarian authorities have been preventing refugees from Syria and elsewhere from travelling to Austria and Germany
For days, Hungarian authorities have been preventing refugees from Syria and elsewhere from travelling to Austria and Germany
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban insists the human wave is a German problem, but chancellor Angela Merkel said the obligation to protect refugees 'applies not just in Germany, but in every European member'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban insists the human wave is a German problem, but chancellor Angela Merkel said the obligation to protect refugees 'applies not just in Germany, but in every European member'
'The majority are not Christians but Muslims. That is an important question because Europe and European culture have Christian roots.
'Or is it not already, and in itself, alarming that Europe's Christian culture is barely able to uphold Europe's own Christian values?' 
He later told a public radio station: 'The reality is that Europe is threatened by a mass inflow of people, many tens of millions of people could come to Europe.
'Now we talk about hundreds of thousands but next year we will talk about millions and there is no end to this,' he said.
'All of a sudden we will see that we are in minority in our own continent.'
Hungary's anti-immigrant prime minister warned European partners that he intends to make his country's borders an impassible fortress for new arrivals. 
Anger: Migrants protest at a railway station in Hungary after their train was stopped by police and ordered to be taken to a refugee camp
Anger: Migrants protest at a railway station in Hungary after their train was stopped by police and ordered to be taken to a refugee camp
Around 300 people refused to board buses in Biscke – a town 22 miles from Budapest – after police stopped them reaching the Austrian border
Around 300 people refused to board buses in Biscke – a town 22 miles from Budapest – after police stopped them reaching the Austrian border
Migrants hold up signs at the railway station in Bicske, HungaryMigrants hold up signs at the railway station in Bicske, Hungary
Desperate: Furious at their treatment and feeling they had been tricked onto the train, some migrants held placards reading 'SOS' and 'Help us'
Migrants stand behind a fence after getting off a train that was stopped  in Bicske, Hungary, as police try to shepherd them to a refugee camp
Migrants stand behind a fence after getting off a train that was stopped in Bicske, Hungary, as police try to shepherd them to a refugee camp
Spelling it out: The scene of desperation was just one of many that unfolded as tempers flared in Hungary's war of wills with migrants trying to evade asylum checks and reach Western Europe, a showdown with consequences for the entire continent
Spelling it out: The scene of desperation was just one of many that unfolded as tempers flared in Hungary's war of wills with migrants trying to evade asylum checks and reach Western Europe, a showdown with consequences for the entire continent
The question of how to manage the crisis was hotly debated in Brussels at meetings between EU leaders and Hungary's prime minister.
His chief of staff, Janos Lazar, said 160,000 migrants had reached Hungary this year, 90,000 of them in the past two months alone, representing around half of all asylum-seekers in Europe.
'We Hungarians are full of fear,' Mr Orban told a Brussels news conference, warning that the acceptance of so many Muslims from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere would erode Europe's Christian bedrock.
He confirmed his government's plan to send at least 3,000 troops to Hungary's southern border with Serbia, where police patrols, razor-wire coils and a 13ft fence are already in place to deter new arrivals from the non-EU member.
Mr Orban said Hungary's dilemma was really 'a German problem. Nobody would like to stay in Hungary. All of them would like to go to Germany.' 
Police guard a train full of refugees stuck in a stalemate as they refuse get off at the station, fearing they would be put up in a  refugee camp
Police guard a train full of refugees stuck in a stalemate as they refuse get off at the station, fearing they would be put up in a refugee camp
Forlorn: Women rest on the train. Hungary's anti-immigrant prime minister warned European partners that he intends to make his country's borders an impassible fortress for new arrivals
Forlorn: Women rest on the train. Hungary's anti-immigrant prime minister warned European partners that he intends to make his country's borders an impassible fortress for new arrivals
300 migrants refused to get onto buses in Biscke – a town 22 miles outside Budapest – after police stopped them reaching the Austrian border
300 migrants refused to get onto buses in Biscke – a town 22 miles outside Budapest – after police stopped them reaching the Austrian border

EGYPTIAN BILLIONAIRE OFFERS TO BUY ISLAND FROM GREECE OR ITALY SO MIGRANTS CAN 'BUILD A NEW COUNTRY'

An Egyptian billionaire has offered to buy an island off Greece or Italy and develop it to help hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from Syria and other conflicts.
Telecoms tycoon Naguib Sawiris first announced the initiative on Twitter.
'Greece or Italy sell me an island, I'll call its independence and host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country,' he wrote.
More than 2,300 people have died at sea trying to reach Europe since January, many of them Syrians who fled their country's four-and-a-half year conflict.
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered to buy an island from Greece or Italy so migrants can build their own country
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered to buy an island from Greece or Italy so migrants can build their own country
Sawiris said in a television interview that he would approach the governments of Greece and Italy about his plan.
Asked whether he believed it could work, he said: 'Of course it's feasible.'
'You have dozens of islands which are deserted and could accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees.'
Sawiris said an island off Greece or Italy could cost between $10 million and $100 million, but added the 'main thing is investment in infrastructure'.
There would be 'temporary shelters to house the people, then you start employing the people to build housing, schools, universities, hospitals.
'And if things improve, whoever wants to go back (to their homeland) goes back,' said Sawiris, whose family developed the popular El Gouna resort on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
He conceded such a plan could face challenges, including the likely difficulty of persuading Greece or Italy to sell an island, and figuring out jurisdiction and customs regulations.
But those who took shelter would be treated as 'human beings,' he said. 'The way they are being treated now, they are being treated like cattle.'
Sawiris is the chief executive of Orascom TMT, which operates mobile telephone networks in a number of Middle Eastern and African countries plus Korea as well as underwater communications networks.
He also owns an Egyptian television channel. 

No comments:

Post a Comment