Chaos in Hungary migrant camp
12 Sept 2015 7:07 AM IST
The footage from Hungary comes from a camp at <g data-gr-id="65">Roszke</g> where large numbers of migrants heading north and west have built up. It was filmed by Michaela Spritzendorfer, the wife of an Austrian Green party politician who was delivering aid to the camp and Klaus Kufner, a journalist and activist. “These people have been on a terrible tour for three months,” Spritzendorfer told the BBC.
“Most of them have been across the sea now and on the boat and through the forest and they’ve gone through terrible things and we, as Europe, we keep them there in camps like animals. It’s really a responsibility of European politicians to open the borders now.”
The lack of support for migrants in Hungary has drawn criticism from activists. Peter Bouckaert, emergency director at Human Rights watch, described the situation at <g data-gr-id="68">Roszke</g> as “inhumane”.
On Wednesday, the Hungarian army started military exercises to prepare for a possible future role in guarding the border and stemming the flow of people - a move criticised by human rights groups.
A new razor-wire barrier is also being built along the country’s border with Serbia.
The European Commission wants 120,000 additional asylum seekers a year to be shared out between 28 members - a sharp increase from the previous proposal of 40,000. But Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia have rejected the proposals.
Meanwhile, a Hungarian camera operator who was filmed kicking two refugee children and tripping up a man at the border of <g data-gr-id="63">Roszke</g> has apologised, saying “something snapped in me” and she cannot believe her actions.
In a letter to the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, Petra Laszlo said she had been in a state of shock since the incident on Tuesday near the Hungarian-Serbian border, but denied accusations of racism, The Guardian reported on Friday.
“The camera was rolling, hundreds of migrants broke through the police cordon, one of them rushed to me and I was scared,” she wrote.
“Then something snapped in me, I just thought that I was attacked and I have to protect myself. It’s hard to make good decisions at a time when people are in a panic.”
Some 7,600 migrants entered Macedonia in 12 hours: Report
Around 7,600 migrants entered Macedonia in just 12 hours overnight –a record according to a UN official quoted by Macedonia’s state news agency on Friday.
“Around 7,600 migrants entered Macedonia between 6:00 pm Thursday and 6:00 am today,” Alexandra Krause of the UNHCR refugee agency said. “We have info from our Greek colleagues that more migrants are travelling towards the Macedonian border,” she added.
Some 500 migrants per hour, including refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East, were arriving in Macedonia, according to humanitarian workers. Once arriving in the former Yugoslav republic, they walk to a reception centre set up by the UNHCR where they register with the authorities and later board buses that take them north to the border to Serbia. From there they enter Hungary, a European Union member.
‘Migrant crisis could be ‘biggest challenge’ in EU history’
The unprecedented influx of refugees and migrants flooding into the European Union could be the bloc’s greatest-ever challenge, Germany’s foreign minister said today, adding Berlin expects 40,000 new migrants to arrive this weekend.
Europe’s largest refugee crisis since the end of World War II could be “the biggest challenge for the EU in its history,” said Frank-Walter Steinmeier, calling for solidarity at Prague crisis talks with eastern EU members who have ruled out binding migrant quotas proposed by the European commission. “If we are united in describing the situation as such, we should be united that such a challenge is not manageable for a single country,” he said.
“Germany expects 40,000 new migrants from the south at the weekend, despite the willingness of German people our possibilities are smaller and smaller,” Steinmeier told counterparts from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.
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