Scenes from a European migrant crisis in Budapest

Hungary is ground zero in the European migrant crisis

(Image credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

published 4 September 2015

Keleti, the central international train station in Budapest, Hungary, has essentially turned into a refugee camp, with 3,000 refuges from Syria and other conflict areas camped out, trying to get to Germany and Austria but prevented from leaving by the Hungarian government. A train purportedly bound for Germany that left the station with hundreds of migrants on Thursday was stopped a short distance away, in Bicske, and surrounded by armed police who planned to escort the migrants to a nearby camp for Syrians and others seeking asylum. The passengers, some of whom bought tickets to Berlin or Austria, have refused to get off the train; they want to apply for asylum in Germany or Sweden or another wealthy country.

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban has taken a hardline stand against refugees, building a fence to try to keep them out and saying on national radio Friday, "We have to make it clear that we can't allow everyone in, because if we allow everyone in, Europe is finished." As this video montage from the BBC shows, many of the Syrians that are fleeing now are middle class or even wealthy, reluctantly leaving their homes as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bombs some areas indiscriminately, Islamic State captures more territory, and the economy goes into freefall. Lebanon and Jordan have reached their limits and are turning away refugees, The New York Times says, steering the wave of migrants to Europe. But on Friday, ground zero of the crisis is in Budapest. Here, from the BBC, are scenes of what that looks like. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.