Thousands of refugees from Syria and other war-stricken regions are protesting against Hungary’s decision to close the Budapest Keleti station for the second day.
Hungarian police continue to prevent migrants from boarding trains at Keleti railway station today, hindering their travel to other Schengen countries.
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People who bought tickets to board trains on Tuesday to Austria, Germany and other countries, have found Keleti station closed with policemen blocking their way.
Hungary allowed thousands of refugees to travel to Germany and Austria on Monday, prompting protests from Berlin and Vienna as the travellers were cleared without the mandatory checking of their travel documents.
This made the country close the station for the migrants.
Hungarian Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs defended the closure, saying it was an attempt to enforce European Union (EU) law, which requires anyone travelling within the borderless Schengen zone to hold a valid passport and visa.
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By GlobalDataAccording to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), more than 350,000 people, many from war-torn Syria, have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year.
The Schengen Area comprises 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their common borders.
The European laws also called as ‘Dublin rules’ require refugees to seek asylum in the first country they enter in the EU, but last week Berlin relaxed the requirement for Syrians.
Kovacs was quoted by CNN as saying: "That’s one major problem we have to face: that these people at least to the Hungarian border came without papers, or got rid of papers, and at the end of the day, it’s basically impossible to determine whether they are telling the truth that they are coming from Syria or other war zones."
A large number of Syrian and Iraqi refugees have protested Hungary’s move as they claimed that the closure of the station was unexpected after they bought tickets by spending a handsome amount.
Image: Budapest’s Keleti railway station. Photo: courtesy of Ralf Roletschek via Wikipedia.
