Croatia to allow free passage of migrants

Crying children fled the acrid smoke and dozens of people were injured in the chaos.

With the route through Hungary apparently closed, some migrants set out on a longer, more arduous route into Western Europe through Croatia.

CNN’s Ivan Watson witnessed a Croatian police officer greeting migrants by saying, “Come on guys, don’t be scared”, before they climbed into a waiting police van. “Shame on you, Hungarians”, he shouted pointing in the direction of the shielded Hungarian policemen who were firing volleys of tear gas canisters directly into the crowd.

His government was taking care of about 5,000 migrants, providing food water and medical supplies, and busing those who accepted a ride to the camps.

And on land, more than 1,000 people attempting to cross to Greece on foot have been stopped by authorities in Istanbul. Hungarian media reported that a pregnant woman began giving birth to a baby amid the clashes.

“Certainly, as that is the worldwide legal rule, therefore it must be done that way”, said government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban hopes to build a new wall along his country’s border with Croatia to keep migrants out, he told French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview to be published Thursday.

Frustrations boiled over Wednesday afternoon after Hungary had sealed the final hole in its border between the two countries a day earlier, closing a popular migration route to Western Europe.

The violence broke out after hundreds of people became frustrated at Hungary’s closure of its border, previously a major crossing-point into Europe for migrants and refugees fleeing war in Syria and elsewhere and a flashpoint in Europe’s refugee crisis.

Helmeted Hungarian riot police backed by armoured vehicles took up positions at the now-barricaded border crossing with Serbia, where male migrant youths pelted them with stones, demanding to be allowed through.

“I think these pictures make it clear why the Hungarian government chose to take the measures it has recently taken”, Szijjarto said. UNHCR was especially shocked and saddened to witness Syrian refugees, including families with children who have already suffered so much, being prevented from entering the European Union with water cannons and tear gas. “Somebody told me that Germany had closed the border”, he said. “Kicking this can down the road, kicking these people down the road is obviously no answer”, Miliband said.

Migrants arriving in Turkey often speak of cruel smugglers who ignore worsening weather conditions and force people on overcrowded rubber boats to squeeze a bigger profit, said EU Frontex, the joint European Union border patrol.

Televised images from a courthouse in Szeged earlier showed four Iraqi men who were charged with their hands tied in front of them. New legislation includes deterrence measures, some contrary to global law and European jurisprudence when applied to asylum-seekers and refugees.

But to get there, migrants typically cross the Mediterranean Sea and go through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria before finally reaching Germany.

Police warned that migrants coming across open spaces between the two countries could be in danger of walking on still active minefields left over from the 1991-1995 war following disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.

Croatia’s border with Serbia lies some 100 kilometres west of the capital Belgrade across flat terrain that is relatively easy to traverse.

“We can not wait until the middle of October”, said Merkel, calling on European countries urgently to formulate a response. He adds “they will be able to pass through Croatia and we are working intensively to enable that”.