Hundreds of migrants are camped by the Keleti station in Budapest, waving their train tickets and chanting “Germany, Germany,” after police blocked them from entering the terminal.
The migrants–many of them refugees from war-torn countries seeking asylum–are trying to make their way to Germany and Austria.
For at least a day, Hungarian authorities have stopped trying to register the migrants under a regulation that requires them to seek asylum in the first EU country they enter, resulting in a wave of migrants arriving in Germany. Germany has said it will no longer send migrants back to the country where they first entered Europe to claim asylum there.
But on Tuesday (Sep. 1), hundreds of police in Budapest emptied out the terminal and the station was sealed off, with only non-migrant passengers allowed inside.
Many in the crowd have tickets for trains headed west, but they lack the appropriate travel documentation, the station’s spokesperson told CNN.
“We have been here five days,” a Syrian refugee at the station told CNN. “No food, no sleep—no place to sleep, no anything.”
The migrants also chanted “Merkel, Merkel, Merkel, help us,” referring to the German chancellor who has called for a “fair distribution of refugees.” Germany is expecting 800,000 asylum seekers this year. But on a per-citizen basis, Hungary has received more applications than any other EU state.