Budapest, Hungary • Thousands of people desperate to reach Western Europe rushed into a Budapest train station Thursday after police ended a two-day blockade, setting off a wave of anger and confusion as hundreds shoved their way onto a waiting train. But when it tried to drop them off at a Hungarian camp for asylum seekers, a bitter showdown began.
One man threw his wife and infant son onto the tracks, screaming in Arabic, "We won't move from here!" Police surrounded the prone family, pulled the husband away and handcuffed him as he wailed. His wife and diaper-clad boy — apparently uninjured despite their stumbling descent onto the tracks — were freed and allowed to rejoin other migrants.
The scene of desperation was just one of many that unfolded Thursday as tempers flared in Hungary's war of wills with migrants trying to evade asylum checks and reach Western Europe, a showdown with consequences for the entire continent.
As Hungary's anti-immigrant prime minister warned European partners that he intends to make his country's borders an impassible fortress for new arrivals, his government struggled to coax thousands of unwanted visitors away from the Budapest transportation hub that has been turned into a squalid refugee camp.
People fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa rushed into the Keleti train terminal when police unexpectedly withdrew Thursday morning, ending a blockade.
But instead of heading to the Austrian border, the overloaded train stopped at Bicske, a town northwest of Budapest that holds one of the country's five camps for asylum seekers — facilities the migrants want to avoid because they don't want to pursue asylum claims in economically depressed Hungary. As the train platform filled with police came into view, those inside chanted their disapproval and their determination to reach Germany, their almost unanimous goal.
The crowd, angrily waving train tickets to Vienna and Munich, refused police orders to board buses to the asylum center, pushing their way past police and back onto the train. A daylong standoff ensued in which police and charity workers took turns handing food and water to the passengers, only to have them tossed out train windows in protest.
"We don't need food and water! Just let us go to Germany!" one man shouted. Children held up handwritten signs reading, "Let's Go Germany."
About 100 police kept watch on the train, barring media from the platform, but didn't remove the migrants by force.
Conditions at Keleti station have grown increasingly unsanitary despite the efforts of volunteers distributing water, food, medicine and disinfectants. The numbers of those stuck there have swelled since Hungary reversed course Tuesday after allowing more than 2,000 migrants to travel on trains heading west the day before. Thousands were stranded after buying tickets costing 61 to 122 euros ($68 to $136).
The question of how to manage the crisis was hotly debated Thursday in Brussels at meetings between European Union leaders and Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban. His chief of staff, Janos Lazar, said 160,000 migrants had reached Hungary this year, 90,000 of them in the past two months alone, representing around half of all asylum-seekers in Europe.
"We Hungarians are full of fear," Orban told a Brussels news conference, warning that the acceptance of so many Muslims from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere would erode Europe's Christian bedrock.
Orban confirmed his government's plan to send at least 3,000 troops to Hungary's southern border with Serbia, where police patrols, razor-wire coils and a 13-foot fence are already in place to deter new arrivals from the non-E.U. member.
Serbia's prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, warned that if Hungary drew a new line in the sand, this would simply create a new problem for Serbia, where virtually none of the migrants passing through want to claim asylum.
Vucic said the E.U. needed a region-wide plan to ensure migrants received care and support if Hungary sealed its border. "Otherwise ... in 12 days we can face huge problems here."
A migrant looks out from a police car in front of the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, after police stopped them from getting on trains to Germany. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Migrants rush to board a train at the railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
A young child cries as hundreds of migrants try to board a train at the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Migrants try to board a train at the railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Migrants struggle to board a train at the railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
A young child cries as hundreds of migrants try to board a train at the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Migrants try to board a train at the railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Migrants receive a juice donation in front of the railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
The feet of a young boy are bandaged as he waits at the railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Migrants sleep on the floor at the railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Migrants wait in front of a painted train at the railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
A migrant lies on the track with a baby as she is detained in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
A migrant is detained in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
A young boy presses his hand onto a train window in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Migrants get back on a train in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
A migrant holding a child is detained in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
A migrant holding a child lays on the train tracks as she is detained in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Migrants get back on a train in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
A migrant is detained after the train they were traveling in from Budapest arrived in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
A migrant is detained after the train they were traveling in from Budapest arrived in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Migrants are seen on a train bound for Sopron, 208 kms west from Budapest at the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, September 3, 2015. Migrants are now allowed to enter the station but direct trains from Budapest to Western Europe are currently out of operation until further notice. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Migrants are seen on a train bound for Sopron, 208 kms west from Budapest at the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, September 3, 2015. Migrants are now allowed to enter the station but direct trains from Budapest to Western Europe are currently out of operation until further notice. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Migrants wait at the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Migrants are now allowed to enter the station but direct trains from Budapest to Western Europe are currently out of operation until further notice. (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP)
Migrants wait at the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Migrants are now allowed to enter the station but direct trains from Budapest to Western Europe are currently out of operation until further notice. (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP)