Watch Live: Refugee clashes at Hungarian border, tensions boil as MEPs vote! (Pics)

Author: newsroom  | Published: September 17, 2015

A human tragedy as refugees seek a better life for themselves

The refugee crisis escalated on Wednesday as hundreds of trapped refugees briefly broke through a border gate on the closed Hungarian border. Clashes followed, raising the concern of the UNHCR aftr the Hungarian riot police fired teargas and water cannon to frustrated crowds in the thousands, including children.
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Amnesty International reported that at least seven children had been injured, with one sustaining a head injury and another blinded by pepper spray.

epa04932437 Migrants stand are stopped by the barb-wired border fence at the closed railway crossing between Serbia and Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, 15 September 2015. Hungary declared a state of emergency in two counties along its border with Serbia, after it used a boxcar fitted with razor wire to block a major entry point there. Declaring the state of emergency paves the way for parliament to allow the army to reinforce police along the border, as new measures to crackdown on refugees go into effect. EPA/KOCA SULEJMANOVIC

Serbia retaliated by accusing Hungary of “brutal” behavior. “UNHCR reiterates its call on the the Hungarian authorities to ensure unimpeded access for people in need of protection in line with its legal and moral obligations,”the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, said on Wednesday. “States should manage their borders in a way that is consistent with International and EU Law, including guaranteeing the right to seek asylum,” Guterres added.
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In light of the emergency, The European Parliament’s plenary is holding an emergency vote on Thursday at 10 a.m. on a scheme to relocate an additional 120,000 asylum seekers from Greece, Italy and Hungary. This recourse to the urgency procedure was proposed by EP President Martin Schulz and approved by the plenary in an opening vote.

The debate was opened by Luxembourg’s Minister for Immigration and Asylum, Jean Asselborn, European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, and Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos before MEPs took the floor.

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To address the crisis, and given the outcome of the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers and the new situation at the Hungarian border, UNHCR proposed an emergency plan of action on Wednesday in Brussels for:

1. The immediate creation of facilities in Greece to receive, assist, register and screen people arriving.
2. The immediate start of a process, from Greece and from existing centers in Italy, for the relocation of 40,000 refugees agreed to by the Council to participating EU countries. This should be expanded by additional voluntary pledges by EU states against the new proposals of the European Commission.
3. An emergency package from the EU to Serbia to establish a similar capacity to properly assist, register and relocate people to other European countries.