Refugees Make Desperate Dash for Croatian Border

Croatia on Friday began busing thousands of migrants and refugees to its northeastern frontier with Hungary, with at least two coachloads crossing the frontier, an AFP correspondent said.

Hungary’s decision to close its borders to Syrian refugees has intensified the growing crisis enveloping Europe.

Premier Zoran Milanovic stated that “Croatia is a transit country for the refugees and it will not behave like other states closing its borders despite the fact that our resources are limited”.

Separately, hundreds of refugees set off for Slovenia, to the west.

“Terrorism is not coming with us” he added.

More than 4,000 migrants were sent from Croatia to Hungary on Friday after officials said it did not have capacity for the 17,000 who had arrived since Wednesday.

By Thursday morning, Croatian police said 6,200 people had entered the country since the first groups started arriving early Wednesday.

The border crossing between Serbia and Croatia in the area is closed from the Croatian side – Serbian border police are allowing pedestrians and vehicles to pass, but their Croatian colleagues are not letting vehicles go any further.

Some migrants have travelled to Slovenia instead, trekking through fields to evade the police, but the Slovenian government has now stopped trains on the main rail line from Croatia.

At least 1,000 migrants crossed by train and bus northward into Hungary from Croatia on Friday under the watch of Hungarian security forces sworn to keep them out – a snapshot of the confusion and contradiction of a divided Europe.

Most people say they want to claim asylum in Germany or Scandinavian countries.

Scores of refugees were entering into Croatia from Serbia, by a connecting bridge in the town of Batina, after they were dispersed by buses the Serbs at its border with Hungary.

Early on things were calm, but they soon got out of control. According to a Croatian state news agency Hina, the president of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, asked the army to be prepared to protect the border from illegal migration.

“We are being put to test”, said Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.

Reporting from the Croatia-Serbia border, Lauren Frayer spoke to Jamal al-Shahoud, a refugee from Syria, who told her, “Here no food, no water”. Romania responded with alarm Thursday after Hungary said that fence would be 70 kilometres long, saying that would violate European standards.