Hungarian police drive migrants away with tear gas and water cannons

Many migrants considering Croatia route.

Hundreds of migrants broke through a razor wire fence on the border with Serbia, causing the Hungarian police to drive them off with water cannons and tear gas. The migrants are forced to take a longer route into Western Europe through Croatia while they are prevented from moving through Hungary.

span style="line-height: 1.22;">MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - The riot police used water cannons and tear gas to drive away migrants who thrown rocks and water bottles, out of frustration from being blocked on the Serbian side.

One of the migrants, an Iraqi named Amir Hassan, expressed his anger over the Hungarians as he was dripping wet from being fired with the water cannon and trying to wash the tear gas from his eyes.

"We fled wars and violence and did not expect such brutality and inhumane treatment in Europe," exclaimed Hassan, shouting "Shame on you, Hungarians!" to the Hungarian police who aimed tear gas canisters and water cannons into the group of migrants. 

The Serbian authorities sent in ambulances to the riot, but it wasn't clear how many people were injured. The attack occurred in the small Serbian village Horgos, just a short distance from the main border crossing into Hungary, where the clashes between the migrants and the police first took place. 

Prior to the riot, women migrants holding on to their children went to the front of the crowd and plead with the police to get through the fence, but their appeals were not granted. 

Most of the war refugees from Syria and Iraq passed through Hungary over the past few months, as this was the main entry point into the European Union. More than 200,000 migrants have passed through Hungary this year, the majority of which entered from the southern border.

The Hungarian authorities explained last Tuesday, new laws would take effect where migrants who crossed from Serbia anywhere other than the legal checkpoints would be put into jail. Five hundred and nineteen migrants have already been arrested for trying to cross the border. 

Migrants who hoped to cross Hungary are still trapped along the border in Horgos. A lot of them don't know what to do and are considering entering the European Union through Croatia, which is a longer route for them going into Western Europe. 

Croatia's Prime Minister, Zoran Milanovic, expressed their willingness to accept and help the migrants.

Milanovic told the lawmakers in the Parliament, "We are ready to accept these people, regardless of their religion and the color of their skin, and direct them to the destinations where they wish to go, Germany and Scandinavia."

He also criticized Hungary for closing its border with Serbia for the migrants, and referred to the barbed wire in Europe as a "threat" and not an answer to the current burden that the refugees are currently facing. 

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