Hungary’s leader to migrants: ‘Please don’t come.’

In a dramatic sign that Europe’s fast-mounting refugee crisis may be set to get even worse, Hungary’s far-right leader told asylum-seekers Thursday to stay away from Europe and vowed to crack down on the thousands of migrants who are crossing into his country every day.

The harsh comments following emergency meetings with European Union leaders in Brussels came as thousands of asylum-seekers rushed Budapest’s central train station Thursday morning after authorities opened the station to them after a two-day standoff.

Authorities there suddenly reversed efforts to keep them out amid a growing refugee crisis that has stunned Europe.

Hungary’s leaders have taken the hardest stance against the refugees, constructing a 108-mile razor-wire fence along their border and warning that Europe’s Christian future is at stake.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban showed no sign of backing down Thursday, blasting fellow European leaders for their willingness to harbor people fleeing wars in Syria and Iraq.

“If we would create an image . . . just come because we are ready to accept everybody, that would be a moral failure, because that is not the case,” Orban said after a meeting with European Parliament President Martin Schulz. “The moral human thing is to make clear, please don’t come. Why do you have to go from Turkey to Europe? Turkey is a safe country. Stay there. It’s risky to come.”

He vowed to completely shut Hungary’s borders by Sept. 15, following new emergency measures expected to be approved by the country’s parliament on Friday that will give authorities broad new powers to crack down on undocumented migration.

The asylum-seekers in Budapest, many of them fleeing war in Syria and Iraq, had been locked out of the Keleti station since Tuesday, barred from traveling onward to Germany, where leaders have promised shelter and sustenance. A chaotic refugee camp has quickly developed in central Budapest as more people arrive but few leave.

The confusion in Budapest continued Thursday, with authorities opening the doors but giving no reason for their actions. They said that no trains were heading directly to Western Europe for security reasons, further frustrating migrants, many of whom bought tickets for hundreds of euros on Monday when thousands were briefly allowed to travel on to Austria.

Orban said that all asylum-seekers in Hungary would be required to register with authorities there before they were allowed to travel anywhere else.

The Hungarian leader’s stand has support among his socially conservative populace, many of whom are deeply fearful about the influx of asylum-seekers, most of them Muslim, into Europe, even if Hungary is not their final destination.

Orban was set to meet later in the day with other E.U. leaders. The tensions were palpable following his first meeting with Schulz, the president of the E.U. legislature, as the two officials took turns blasting each other from the podium – highly unusual given Europe’s buttoned-down style.

“You see how difficult our debate behind closed doors was,” said Schulz, a German, who called Orban’s approach “wrong.”

He warned that the splits opening during the refugee crisis could do lasting damage to the 28-nation European Union, which was built on a spirit of consensus and burden-sharing.

“This is a crucial moment for the European Union,” Schulz said. “A deeper split is a risk we cannot exclude.”

Migrants in Budapest have been staging impromptu demonstrations, shouting “Freedom! Freedom!” and “Germany!”

Germany has said it expects 800,000 asylum applications this year and has called for other countries to take up more of the burden. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have arrived in Europe this year seeking sanctuary from conflict, oppression and poverty in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.

Policymakers have called an emergency summit for Sept. 14 at which E.U. leaders are planning to push for a more coordinated effort by the union’s member states.

The plans are expected to include a system for dispersing refugees more equitably across the continent, as well as rules for determining which migrants should be returned to their home countries because they fail to meet the definition of refugees.

But rights advocates say the E.U. also needs to implement safe and legal routes to the continent to allow refugees to avoid perilous and often deadly journeys.

The latest deaths were reported Wednesday when 12 migrants drowned after two boats capsized in the narrow strait between Turkey and the Greek island of Kos, Turkish police said.

The deaths highlighted the growing hazards of what had until recently been one of the safer routes to Europe because of the relatively brief sea journey.

A photo of a Syrian toddler whose body washed up on the Turkish coast hours after the sinkings circulated widely online. A second photo showed a solemn policeman cradling the boy, who was dressed in a red T-shirt, shorts and sneakers.

“Despite only being a few short miles, as we have seen, the open-sea journey from Turkey to Greece is far from safe and will only become more dangerous as the weather turns this autumn,” said Kirk Day, field director for the International Rescue Committee, in a statement. “With an estimated 200,000 refugees still planning to make the journey to Greece this year, it is inevitable that we will see a further loss of life until Europe’s policies change.”

The European border control agency Frontex said 23,000 migrants arrived in Greece last week alone – a 50 percent increase over the previous week. The total for the year in Greece is more than 200,000.

The vast majority of the migrants have no intention of staying in Greece but plan to travel north through the Balkans, Hungary and Austria to settle in northern European countries such as Germany and Sweden.

Witte reported from London.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 5:55 AM with the headline "Hungary’s leader to migrants: ‘Please don’t come.’."