EU Immigration Crisis Megathread

[Tamas]

speaking of which, to recap a bit of what is happening RIGHT NOW:


Train station at small town of Bicske, close to a refugee camp:

A trainload of migrants have started a hunger strike on a stalled train because they refuse to leave it and go to the camp - they want the train to take them to Germany. The train never meant to leave the borders of Hungary, but whatevs

Latest here is that the genius which is the Hungarian police sent two freight trains on both sides of the strikers' train probably to shut it off from onlookers. As a result a group of migrants are making a run for it from the train, with police giving chase



Bunch of migrants from Budapest's Keleti station marching to Vienna on foot

They are now basically blocking the main motorway between Budapest and the western border



Various upheveal at the refugee camp in Roszke

Here the morning started with 300 migrants trying to escape, and others stoning the police.
Since then, there have been more stone throwing, two migrant groups brawling with each other, and tear gassing. Fun times.

[Tamas]

Oh yes he is milking the whole thing to indrouce new police-statish laws, it is very disgusting.

Average Joe opinion: I think everyone is worried. It is a growing influx of alien people (in terms of culture and language) coupled with an apparent impotency of the government in handling them, I cannot really fault the population for being concerned.

And then these concerns are further detailed by political leanings and general empathy: from considering the migrants terrorists in disguise and general human scum to the other end of painting them people who cannot possibly under any circumstance be bad on an individual level. And the middle seeing them as poor desperate people who are going to cause serious issues for us as well in their understandable desperation.

I know this is rarely practiced in Eastern Europe, when it comes to international relations, but shouldn't you then be blaming your own country and government and not Germany? 

I am blaming Germany for the particular situation that has developed in the last couple of days: I am sure you are not aware, but the migrants were remarkably peaceful  for months, but after they learned they have a free ticket to stay in Germany, they have become much harder to handle and things are escalating by the hour.

YES in big part because managing cca. 500 uppity migrants is too much for the Hungarian state administration to handle effectively, but you cannot dismiss the correlation between assinine German declarations and the events unfolding.

If they have been staying in the camp (rather than processed and allowed to live, take jobs and earn money) *for months* as you say, then it again only points to Hungarian government's incompetence or bad will in handling the situation. I am not surprised the refugees are pissed off. You can't keep people for months in a refugee camp with no firm deadline for when they will be able to go back to normal lives.

FFS yes lets nitpick my words: by months I mean the THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE who have been constantly entering Hungary. Yes they have been going through processing and then let to roam free (up until recently they were going wherever they wanted BEFORE processing), but the record of number of people entering the country is being broken almost daily, you ivory towered clueless dimwit.

[Tamas]

Bicske train station: most of the striking people (about 300) have started their own march toward Austria on the train tracks (thats going to be a long walk).

Only a handful remained on the train barricading themselves while the police is getting into riot gear

[Liep]

So our former PM, Helle Thorning-Smidth, who competed in a game of "Who can let fewest immigrants into Denmark" and lost (not for lack of trying but winning PM was on home turf being right wing) is now nominated to be high commissioner of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

That'll be fun.

[crazy canuck]

So this is Europe's (or Canada's) fault rather than the boy's parents or the smugglers they trusted? 

I am sure everybody blames the traffickers. I can't blame the parents as I can see myself acting the same in their situation. Fleeing from Kobane when it is reduced to rubble, trying the legal ways to migrate and when that's a failured to ultimately try the one chance I see all seems reasonable.
It's a fair question to ask whether there should be a legal way for Syrian Kurds to register as refugees even without proper travel documents which may be impossible to get for them.

You'd risk your child's life to get to a richer country after having already reached safety? I sure hope you don't have any children.

You would, after two or three years, stay in an overcrowded refugee camp with no education for your children, limited sanitary and medical accommodation and no indication when you can go back to your old home instead of trying to get somewhere where your kids can grow up and be educated like normal people? I sure hope you don't have any children.

Agreed.   That family was put in an impossible position.  Only an idiot would condemn the choice to risk a better life when all other options were exhausted.

[crazy canuck]

where as in fact Hungary is only trying to uphold EU law.

but I was just following orders....

Merkel has decided to suspend that "law" why cant the Hungarians allow them to pass through to Germany?

[Valmy]

One would think the Hungarians would be eager to get rid of them. This whole shit show is not doing great things for their international image.

[Tamas]

where as in fact Hungary is only trying to uphold EU law.

but I was just following orders....

Merkel has decided to suspend that "law" why cant the Hungarians allow them to pass through to Germany?

No she did not. They do not want Hungary to let them through unregistered.

[Tamas]

you can see the mixed feelings of the locals on the march happening on the motorway:

Some cars are stopping to hand the migrants food and water. Some other cars yell at them to get out of the country.

[Eddie Teach]

Some cars giving them food and maps to Germany.

[Tamas]

To add to the chaos, there is a Hungary-Romania football game tonight in Budapest. Even on a quiet day thats the perfect excuse for far-rights hooligans to trash some of the city. I hope they won't have the idea to assault the migrants at Keleti station.

[Tamas]

And the Minister of Interior have gone to his summer holiday.

[crazy canuck]

you can see the mixed feelings of the locals on the march happening on the motorway:

Some cars are stopping to hand the migrants food and water. Some other cars yell at them to get out of the country.

And I am sure the immigrants respond by saying that is exactly what they are trying to do 

[Norgy]

So our former PM, Helle Thorning-Smidth, who competed in a game of "Who can let fewest immigrants into Denmark" and lost (not for lack of trying but winning PM was on home turf being right wing) is now nominated to be high commissioner of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

That'll be fun.

Oh, the irony. 

[Razgovory]

So this is Europe's (or Canada's) fault rather than the boy's parents or the smugglers they trusted? 

I am sure everybody blames the traffickers. I can't blame the parents as I can see myself acting the same in their situation. Fleeing from Kobane when it is reduced to rubble, trying the legal ways to migrate and when that's a failured to ultimately try the one chance I see all seems reasonable.
It's a fair question to ask whether there should be a legal way for Syrian Kurds to register as refugees even without proper travel documents which may be impossible to get for them.

You'd risk your child's life to get to a richer country after having already reached safety? I sure hope you don't have any children.

You would, after two or three years, stay in an overcrowded refugee camp with no education for your children, limited sanitary and medical accommodation and no indication when you can go back to your old home instead of trying to get somewhere where your kids can grow up and be educated like normal people? I sure hope you don't have any children.

Agreed.   That family was put in an impossible position.  Only an idiot would condemn the choice to risk a better life when all other options were exhausted.

Yeah, I don't think this is about moving to a richer country so much as moving to a country that isn't in a civil war.