Migrants Stuck at Budapest Train Station Weigh Next Move
Squads of police officers wearing surgical masks and gloves were roaming the streets near the Budapest train station on Wednesday afternoon, walking into Internet cafes and minimarkets and asking people who appeared Middle Eastern for documentation.
If migrants could not produce evidence that they had entered Hungary legally or that they had been fingerprinted at the border, they were taken to a back area of the Keleti train station and fingerprinted, according to several migrants and one police officer.
Fingerprinting means that the process of applying for asylum in Hungary has begun. This is exactly what many of the migrants do not want because they fear that it will prevent them from moving on to other countries like Germany or Sweden.
A group of Syrian and Iraqi men standing in the plaza in front of the train station on Wednesday agonized over what to do next. They could wait in the station in the hope that they would be allowed to board a train to continue their journey, or they could try to leave on their own, perhaps by walking to the border.
Kanwar Dali, 26, from Qamishli, Syria, said he did not think walking was a good idea.
"There's no way we can go anywhere. Even by smuggling," he said. "Apparently they have strengthened security on the border. Half of us here have [train] tickets, and we can't go anywhere."
Mahmoud Mustafa, 25, a car technician, also from Qamishli, said the experience in Hungary had been the worst of any country they had crossed through so far.
"I think the Serbian and Macedonian governments ended up being better than here," he said.
Serbia and Macedonia largely opened their borders last month and allowed waves of migrants and refugees to pass through on their way north to Hungary and the European Union.
Hungary has been a different story.
Ahmad Saadoun, 27, of Falluja, Iraq, said he was fingerprinted by force by the Hungarian police. He showed cuts on his shin where he said he had been roughed up when he at first refused to comply.
He was taken to a camp that was essentially a military zone, he said.
"We want you to talk to Ban Ki-moon and ask him why he isn't helping us," Mr. Saadoun said, referring to the secretary general of the United Nations.
He said members of his family, including his father and two brothers, had been killed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, in the last six months. He left Iraq, where he had been a chemistry professor at the University of Anbar, two years ago and made his way to Turkey.
"In Europe, they're treating us like ISIS did, beating us up. Either take me to Germany or just send me back. I don't care anymore. Fingerprint me and get me out of here."
At this, Mr. Saadoun started weeping and had to cover his face. Another migrant standing next to him flung his arm around Mr. Saadoun’s neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek to try to comfort him.