Refugees defy Hungarian police, EU divided

Stranded for days at Budapest's main train station after officials prevented them from boarding trains bound for Germany and Austria, the group set out Friday intent on reaching the Austrian border, some 175 kilometers (110 miles) away.

"We are very happy that something is happening at last, the next stop is Austria. The children are very tired, Hungary is very bad, we have to go somehow," Osama, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee told the AFP news agency.

Meanwhile, Hungary sealed its main border crossing with Serbia on Friday after about 300 migrants escaped from a nearby refugee camp.

"The police have taken the necessary steps to apprehend them," Hungarian police said in a statement.

Standoff in Bicske

Separately, some 500 migrants faced off with police for a second day in the Hungarian town of Bicske, refusing to get off a train that they had been told would take them to the Austrian border, but instead stopped just 40 kilometres (about 25 miles) out of the capital, with police attempting to remove the refugees and place them in a camp.

Hungary has become one of the flashpoints in Europe's migrant crisis in recent weeks, as thousands of refugees cross into the country on their way to Germany, which recently eased asylum restrictions for Syrians. The UN has also called on Europe to accept more refugees.

The standoff came as Hungarian lawmakers passed tough new anti-immigration measures Friday, including criminalizing illegal border crossings and cutting through the razor-wire fence recently erected along the border with Serbia.

Budapest, Berlin in a war of words

Hungary's conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban has leveled accusations that Germany's lax enforcement of migration rules was encouraging refugees to flee to Europe.

"The problem is not a European problem, the problem is a German problem," he said Thursday following a meeting in Brussels. "Nobody would like to stay in Hungary. All of them would like to go to Germany."

In return, the German government warned Budapest that Berlin's decision not to expel Syrian refugees back to their point of entry in the EU does not absolve Hungary from its obligation to process asylum applications.

"As part of a Western community ... Hungary must meet its legal and humanitarian obligations," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday in Berlin.

But the Visegrad Group - a post-Cold War alliance comprised of Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary - has voiced support for the Hungarian government's handling of the crisis.

"As an expression of their solidarity, the Prime Ministers stand ready to provide Hungary with further assistance," prime ministers of the four countries said in a statement Friday.

Action plan proposed

In a bid to restart joint-European cooperation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have penned an action plan to deal with the crisis.

An attempt earlier this year to introduce a mandatory redistribution quota failed, and voluntary pledges to take in refugees fell short of the targeted relocation of 40,000 people who have arrived in Italy and Greece.

Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert pointed out that the new plan did not include quotas or specific figures.

In a briefing to reporters, Seibert said the plan envisions setting up "hotspot" reception centers in southern Europe that would allow incoming migrants to be processed, though full details of the plan have yet to be released.

"The so-called hotspots in Italy and Greece must be up and running as soon as possible, at the latest by the end of the year," Seibert said, noting that Germany and France were prepared to provide support.

"Closely linked to the establishment of these reception centers is the question of how refugees can be distributed, based on the principle of solidarity, across all member states. We urgently need a sustainable and binding mechanism for the resettlement of these people," Seibert added.

Hostels open doors

As thousands head toward Germany, a youth hostel association said it would offer space for 1,550 migrants over the winter.

The hostel association of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state said it had 10 hostels that are shuttered closed for the winter, but was offering them to the refugee authorities as heated accommodation.

In the neighboring state of Lower Saxony, it was also announced that buses would take 500 asylum seekers to a campground on the North Sea beach at Cuxhaven to relieve overcrowding at migrant centers.

Authorities forecast up to 800,000 people, equivalent to one percent of the population, will seek asylum in Germany this year.

jar/se (AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters)