http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/hungary-shuts-key-refugee-route-amid-widening-clampdowns-across-europe/2015/09/15/ccb65188-5b15-11e5-8475-781cc9851652_story.html/
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Europe
Hungary shuts key refugee route amid widening clampdowns across Europe
Arrests as Hungary tightens border controls
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A spokeswoman says Hungarian police detained 16 people claiming to be Syrian and Afghan migrants for illegally crossing the Serbian border fence on Sept. 15, as tough new laws took effect to guard the southern frontier. (Reuters)
By Robert Samuels, Michael Birnbaum and William Booth September 15 at 11:26 AM
HORGOS, Serbia — A main gateway to central Europe slammed shut Tuesday as Hungary closed its border to refugees, finishing work on a 100-mile fence spooled with razor wire and arresting dozens of desperate migrants who tried to sneak across.
Within hours, a tent city sprouted on the Serbian side in another potential humanitarian flash point.
And the ripple effect reached wider. Hundreds of refugees massed in Istanbul with plans to aim for the land borders with Greece and Bulgaria — by bus or on foot — possibly opening up new refugee routes and escalating pressures on European authorities.
Tens of thousands of men, women and children — many from war-wracked Syria and Iraq — have been racing to reach Western Europe before their path is blocked by tighter border controls and a dramatic rollback of the European Union policy of open movement across frontiers.
By dawn, a critical route through Hungary was sealed. Authorities declared a state of emergency in two counties bordering Serbia, which would allow the parliament to deploy troops to assist police and local authorities. The new rules also put smuggling networks on notice, increasing prison terms for convicted human traffickers.
“Open the border!” migrants yelled as a Hungarian police helicopter skimmed over the border zone, the Associated Press reported.
Even those who managed to make it over the Hungarian border saw their options suddenly narrow.
At Vienna’s central station, where many were stranded, crowds awaited word on whether canceled buses and trains would again be moving toward Germany, whose generous social programs and giant economy draw many asylum seekers.
Austria’s Interior Ministry said the country was running out of shelter, with 19,700 of 20,000 beds filled.
[On the Hungarian border, a last push for easy entry into Europe]
“We’re hoping for a decision by the Germans that they will accept us again,” said Mohammad, 24, from Fallujah in western Iraq. He declined to give his last name for fear of reprisals against his family back home. He had reached the heart of Europe without showing anyone any documents.
Restrictions took hold across Europe from west to east even as E.U. leaders bickered over a German-led plan to resettle up to 160,000 refugees across 22 member countries.
‘We will die here if we have to’: Hungary closes border to refugees
View Photos Nation shuts key route during crisis.
Germany will become the new Syria:
http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2015/09/14/refugee-crisis-corporate-donations.html/