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Migrant Crisis : Refugees start arriving in Germany after Hungary ordeal

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Refugees start arriving in Germany after Hungary ordeal - Al Jazeera English

Refugees start arriving in Germany after Hungary ordeal
Austria and Germany open their borders to thousands of refugees who have been stranded in Hungary.
05 Sep 2015 17:33 GMT | Humanitarian crises, Europe, Refugees, Hungary

The first of thousands of exhausted refugees expected to arrive in Germany within days have started to arrive in the German city of Munich after boarding special trains from Austria's Vienna.

Around 1,600 people who were trying to reach western Europe but spent the past few days trapped in Hungary have arrived in Munich since early Saturday morning.

By the end of the day, 3,000 people were expected to have arrived in the city.

The refugees were being taken to an accommodation centre in Munich for registration but could be distributed to shelters elsewhere in Germany in coming days.

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A refugee boy tries on a security officer's cap after arriving in Germany [Reuters]
Austria's interior ministry arranged the transport after the refugees were bussed to the border by the Hungarian government, which gave up trying to stop them under pressure from the sheer numbers reaching its frontiers.

The ministry said about 4,000 people had arrived in Austria on Saturday and the number was expected to reach 10,000 by the end of the day.

Once they reached the Austrian border, the refugees, many of them from Syria, were whisked by train and shuttle bus to Vienna, where many said they still wanted to continue on to Germany.

After days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary's government deployed the buses to take more than 1,000 refugees, including disabled people and family groups, who had set off by foot on Friday from Budapest down the main highway to Vienna.

Austria said it had agreed with Germany that it would allow the refugees access, waiving the rules of an asylum system brought to breaking point by Europe's worst refugee crisis in decades.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) praised the two countries for their "political leadership based on humanitarian values".

'Refugees welcome'

Wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags against the rain, long lines of weary refugees, many carrying small, sleeping children, climbed off buses on the Hungarian side of the border and walked into Austria, receiving fruit and water from aid workers. Waiting Austrians held signs that read, "Refugees welcome".


Tension rises on Greek island overwhelmed by refugees
"Because of today's emergency situation on the Hungarian border, Austria and Germany agree in this case to a continuation of the refugees' journey into their countries," Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said on his Facebook page.
For days, Hungary has cancelled all trains going west to Austria and Germany, saying it is obliged under EU rules to register all asylum seekers, who should remain there until their requests are processed.

Many refugees refused, determined to get to the richer countries of northern and Western Europe, mainly Germany.

"The government has not commented on why they changed their mind over the issue yet," Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from the highway leading to the Hungarian-Austrian border, said on Budapest’s decision to let refugees go to Austria.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from outside Budapest, said some people were worried the police were luring them into a trap with the buses but they were so exhausted after hours of walking that they boarded them.

Traffic built up on the highway as cars crossing the border were being searched as a result of measures taken after dozens of refugees were found dead on a truck last week.

Meanwhile, European foreign ministers and officials gathered in Luxembourg on Saturday to discuss the massive influx of migrants and refugees in countries across Europe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she was still aiming to balance her country's budget, despite an expected 800,000 refugees expected to arrive in Germany this year at a cost of $11 billion.

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The Hungarian government deployed buses to ferry refugees to the Austrian border [AP]
Hungary has emerged as the main entry point for refugees reaching the EU by land across the Balkan Peninsula.
More than 140,000 people have been recorded entering Hungary so far this year through the EU's external border with Serbia, where Hungary's government is building a 3.5m wall.
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Very touched. Europeans have welcomed them open arms. This is a moment to celebrate humanity. A great gessture indeed.

Finnish PM offers his home to asylum seekers - Al Jazeera English

Finnish PM offers his home to asylum seekers
Al Jazeera talks to Finns on the PM's recent move and what role the Nordic country should play in EU's refugee crisis.
Umut Uras | 05 Sep 2015 15:57 GMT | Human Rights, Finland, Asylum Seekers, Europe

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"We should all ask ourselves how we can help," PM Juha Sipila says [AP]
More to this story
Finland's prime minister has offered his private home in northern Finland to asylum seekers, at a time of massive flow of refugees to the Western Europe through land and sea.

Juha Sipila told state media that his home in Kempele, located in 500km north of the capital Helsinki, could be used to accommodate asylum seekers after the end of the year.

"We should all look in the mirror and ask ourselves how we can help … My house is not being used much at the moment. My family lives in Sipoo [east of Helsinki] and the prime minister's residence is located in Kesaranta," Sipila told public broadcaster YLE.

The prime minister also called on other citizens, churches and voluntary organisations in the country of five million inhabitants to open their facilities to asylum seekers.

Recently, thousands of people from Iceland, another Nordic country, offered their homes to refugees through a Facebook page after the government announced it would accept only 50 refugees.

Maija Karjalainen, secretary of international affairs for the right-wing Finns Party, said that the prime minister's move was positive, but could not be implemented by many Finns.

Why Austrians are opening their homes to refugees

"It is a move to be an example for others in helping refugees, but we should not forget that the prime minister is in a unique position, having a house available for this purpose," she told Al Jazeera.

"Not all Finns have the space, finances or the capacity to do the same."

The anti-immigration Finns Party is in a coalition government with Prime Minister Sipila's Centre Party.

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An exterior view of Juha Sipila's house in Kempele in Oulu region [Reuters]

Finnish citizens who talked to Al Jazeera have varied views about the prime minister's initiative.

"This [the PM’s move] is upholding and continuation of the Finnish tradition to deal with this sort of crisis," Reeta Paakkinen, a 36-year-old a non-fiction writer from Helsinki, told Al Jazeera.

"In 1939, when the USSR attacked Finland, hundreds of thousands of Karelians were evacuated from their home region to West Finland and accommodated in fellow people's homes … My own family was among these people, so I really appreciate the move of our prime minister."

After the 1939-1940 Winter War, started after an invasion on the USSR, approximately 430,000 Finns lost their homes. At the end of the war, Finland was forced to cede part of the Karelian Isthmus, which is located in Russia today.


Inside Story: Migrants or refugees?
In contrast, Timo Tuomaala, a 39 year old from Oulu believes the move is "ridiculous" and "aims to divert attention from other problems".

"Here in Finland, we have lots of problems with retired and other needy or poor people, from whom the Finnish government is planning to cut a lot [of funds] from. His move is not a sincere move," Tuomaala, an adult student who retired due to sickness, told Al Jazeera.

The prime minister’s move comes as thousands of refugees stream into Austria from Hungary over land and as Greece and Italy face a surge of refugees reaching their shores on boats.

The Finnish government on Friday doubled its projection for asylum seekers in 2015 from 15,000 to 30,000, compared to less than 4,000 last year.

Refugee facilities are overpopulated in Finland due to the recent unprecedented flow of refugees into the country.

The Oulu region in northern Finland, where the prime minister's apartment is located, reportedly has a shortage of housing for asylum seekers.

'Lack of solidarity'

In his remarks on Saturday, Sipila said he hoped that his move would inspire others to share part of the burden in the recent refugee housing crisis. He also stressed the lack of solidarity in the EU over the issue of asylum seekers.

"Finland should do whatever is possible within the EU scope to help migrants coming to Europe," The Finns Party MP Karjalainen said.

In Pictures: A night at the train station

"However, 30,000 is a crazy number for hosting asylum seekers as Finland is dealing with its own economic issues."

All Finns who talked to Al Jazeera, agreed that Finland should carry out its responsibility in the recent refugee crisis happening within the EU.

Heini Kuusela, a 36-year-old journalist from Heinola, said Finland was a big country in size and could accommodate more refugees than it has been taking.

"There are small villages in Finland shutting down schools because there are not enough children attending. There is a room if there's a will," she said.

Tuomaala from Oulu agreed that refugees should be helped but stressed that Finns were generally suspicious of other ethnicities.

"Finns have always been a bit scared about things they don't know properly. Also there has been an increasing number of criminal incidents by some migrant groups lately. And the Finnish judicial system gives short sentences in general, to both Finnish and migrants."

And for some more touching moments, watch the videos on this link here

As it happened: Migrant crisis updates - 5 September 2015 - BBC News
 
I hear Germany is planning to take a total of 800K 'refugees'. For a country of 80M, that's sheer madness.

Its interesting to see that the Hitler bogey has impacted their psyche so profoundly that they have moved to the other extreme. They are afraid of nationalism and asserting / protecting their identity.
 
Germans giving a VIP reception to Syrian migrants or arrival. Watch and be touched.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"> <a href="#Refugees hashtag on Twitter">#Refugees</a> of <a href="#MigrantMarch hashtag on Twitter">#MigrantMarch</a> welcomed like VIP&#39;s on arrival to <a href="#Germany hashtag on Twitter">#Germany</a>. Bravo <a href="#München hashtag on Twitter">#München</a>! <a href="As it happened: Migrant crisis updates - 5 September 2015 - BBC News">http://t.co/MptgQC8meU</a> <a href="BBC News (UK) on Twitter: ""Welcome to Germany" - People applaud & greet migrants as they arrive in Munich http://t.co/Q1FWTE3Um6 http://t.co/6m7cYy9TAN"">http://t.co/pPHtnrSvEh</a></p>&mdash; Kristina Dei (@2kdei) <a href=" ">September 5, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
I hear Germany is planning to take a total of 800K 'refugees'. For a country of 80M, that's sheer madness.

Its interesting to see that the Hitler bogey has impacted their psyche so profoundly that they have moved to the other extreme. They are afraid of nationalism and asserting / protecting their identity.
No not this is first generation of refugee but theior kids and next generations r asset for Germany that what these countries think in long run in 10 to 15 yrs .
 
No not this is first generation of refugee but theior kids and next generations r asset for Germany that what these countries think in long run in 10 to 15 yrs .

Correction. That's what they hope, well the silly leaders do anyway. UK is a fine example of reality - where second generation Muslims are more orthodox / radical than their immigrant parents.

All this means the rise of the anti-immigrant right is inevitable, maybe apart from Germany.
 
Only outcome of this is massive rise of far-right and another possible holocaust. When that comes these idiotic leftists are equally responsible for what happened.

While I agree - having stated the same, this will not be the case throughout Europe. The British are too timid for a real far-right. They don't even have a right wing party, unless you count the likes of BNP. The Germans are too hung up on the consequence of Hitler to do anything.

I see potential in France though.
 
While I agree - having stated the same, this will not be the case throughout Europe. The British are too timid for a real far-right. They don't even have a right wing party, unless you count the likes of BNP. The Germans are too hung up on the consequence of Hitler to do anything.

I see potential in France though.
You will only see the consequences in a few years when these migrants start making trouble. The problem is leftists are not good realists.They will continue to live in a self-made universe until they see the trouble for themselves but then, they turn to the far-right as well. I have seen few examples myself.
 
You will only see the consequences in a few years when these migrants start making trouble. The problem is leftists are not good realists.They will continue to live in a self-made universe until they see the trouble for themselves but then, they turn to the far-right as well. I have seen few examples myself.

In UK, we have had plenty of trouble. The Rotherham case, the politicians are afraid to even call them Pakistani Muslims, they hide behind Asians - and besmirch the rest of Asians by the way.

Nah, UK I am confident is too far gone. I have spent time there, talked to people. They are more afraid than angry.

Lefties are a curse where ever they go, though, if they turn far-right, it might become interesting.
 
Europe is a beautiful content.

Clean civilised

Their great individual cultures and traditions in each of these beautiful nations.

I understand WHY the worlds POOR persecuted want to come

BUT BUT

I keep telling my family I FEAR for the well being of the western European culture ITS IS BEING DILUTED and SLOWLY ERODED.

Most of the non werstern world particlarly Islamic nations are in utter caos
 
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