Hungary seals off border with Croatia

(Vatican Radio)  Around midnight local time, Hungary effectively closed its borders with Croatia to migrants fleeing war and poverty. Authorities claim those with valid documents can still enter or ask asylum at the official border crossings, but thousands of refugees remain stuck in Croatia as winter sets in. 

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

Some 1,500 migrants refugees who arrived by train on the Croatian side, walked silently in darkness through mud to reach Hungary where they received a frosty reception from security forces.

These weary travelers, some of them carrying an elderly woman in a wheel chair and children, were the last to be allowed into the country for what authorities called "humanitarian reasons". But thousands of other refugees staying in Croatia, many of whom lack winter clothing, faced an uncertain future.

Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács made clear that most of them would not be able to arrive in Hungary.

Protecting borders

"In other to be able to protect (Europe's passport-free) Schengen borders and the Hungarian people as well as Europe we had to make that decision and that step. So as of 0100 today the green borders are going to be sealed," he told reporters in the Hungarian border town of Zákány.

A huge fence and barbed wire has been completed along Hungary's green border with Croatia, following a similar structure along its border with Serbia.

Hungary also started criminal and deportation procedures against hundreds of refugees who tried to enter the country illegally from Serbia after it closed its green borders to migrants there last month.

Experts fear that many refugees will now get stuck in Croatia, which is ill prepared to accommodate Europe's largest influx of refugees since World War Two.

Complicating the situation was news that Croatia's other European Union neighbor Slovenia had halted regular train services to better control the influx of migrants.

Policies condemned

The Croatian government and rights activists have condemned the policies of anti-migrant Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

But standing in front of a halted train, Kovács made clear closing the border was needed as long as there was no clear common EU policy towards halting the influx of people fleeing war torn nations such as Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan as well as Africa. "We expect that after the meeting in Brussels, the summit in Brussels we will be able to accelerate steps towards reinforcing border control and stepping up against illegal border crossing at the outer borders of the European Union that is in Greece," he said.

"But so far that's the best option we had. As the prime minister said this is not our first option, this the second best option we have at the moment," Kovács added.

More than 380,000 refugees arrived in Hungary this year alone.

Tensions have also emerged along other border areas, including at the Bulgarian-Turkish border where an Afghan migrant was shot and killed by a border guard as he tried to cross into Bulgaria. It was the first such reported killing of a refugee trying to reach Europe.

Thousands of others have lost their lives at sea or while walking dangerous routes.