Migrant Crisis: Dozens Cross Into Croatia After Hungary Seals Border

“If someone claims to be a refugee, he will be asked if he filed an asylum request in Serbia“.

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Wednesday that migrants entering the country will be allowed to pass through and continue their journey to western Europe, confirming around 150 people had entered from Serbia overnight.

However, small groups of migrants continued to sneak into Hungary by crawling under or climbing over the fence on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. If not Hungary, we will have to find another way. What’s been happening as a result along the border? “Until open border!” they chanted.

The controversial measures are part of Orban’s strategy to stem the flow of migrants – more than 200,000 of whom have entered his country so far this year – travelling from Greece and transiting through the western Balkans and Hungary, majority headed on via Austria to Germany. So there was no one left here to help.

“We have had around 1,800 people from midnight until now”, Marban said, adding that he did not expect the flow to ease despite Hungary now having closed its border with neighbouring Serbia. Almost 100 other people were rescued.

“Police have contacted us and we sent a team to the border area in eastern Croatia”, an official at the Croatian Demining Centre told Reuters, asking not to be named.

Defense Minister Istvan Simicsko announced the deployment of 4,300 soldiers to protect the border.

CORNISH: But you were able to cross that border. Some of them have been accused of trying to damage the fence. Authorities had shut down all traffic on the main highway between Serbia and Hungary.

Numerous migrants want to reach Germany via Austria. What effect has that had on the events there?

With new border control laws taking effect, Hungary has sealed its border with Serbia.

“There are at least a few hundred refugees begging authorities at that crossing point to let them cross over into Hungary”, Jamjoom said. A Hungarian water cannon was parked facing them. Croatia also borders Slovenia, which leads to Italy and Austria. They looked absolutely exhausted. “I have to earn some money for my brothers and sisters”. But they don’t know where to go now.

In addition, Budapest made its first arrests under tough new laws punishing “illegal border-crossing” or damaging the border fence with prison terms of up to three years.

CORNISH: And that’s not all.

The buses would normally run to Serbia’s border with European Union member Hungary, but Hungary’s right-wing government on Tuesday launched a crackdown that effectively sealed the frontier to migrants with a metal fence and strict new rules that saw asylum seekers rejected within a matter of hours. What’s going on there?

Romanian and Serbian officials decried the severe measures. Serbia is not in the EU, but Romania is, so it’s a big challenge to the European Union – I mean, barriers being erected dividing, again, East and West within Europe. Her call for a crisis summit won backing from visiting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann who warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe” if Europe failed to take a united stance on the crisis, saying “no-one who is in search of protection must lose their lives”.