Refugees March Down Hungarian Motorway In A Desperate Bid To Reach Austria And Germany

Poignant Scenes As Refugees March Hungarian Motorway To Reach Germany And Austria

Refugees have taken over one side of a Hungarian motorway in Budapest in a desperate attempt to reach Austria and Germany.

Thousands are reported walking the length of the M1, in response to being denied access to trains leaving for western Europe.

The poignant scenes come in the wake of the disturbing images of Aylan Kurdi, a child fleeing war-torn Syria, who drowned and washed up on the shores of a Turkish beach this week.

Journalists have taken to social media to report the mass move and have been live tweeting the march.

Some of the refugees are clutching European Union flags.

James Mates reported that there's very little water - and many children are marching.

Hungarian police are struggling to deal with the wave of people walking as many as 20 wide across the hard shoulder.

Locals are lining the roads to give water to the crowds, walking in the baking heat.

The refugees are taking extreme measures to leave Hungary for many reasons.

Far-right groups are becoming increasingly powerful in the Hungarian Parliament, whichadding to a hostile public attitude towards refugees.

The shortest route towards Austria could take the refugees up to 41 hours to walk and is a total of 202km.

Arwa Damon confirms the direction that they are heading.

This week more than 2,000 refugees were forced to camp outside Budapest's Keleti station, awaiting permission to travel west.

In contrast to Hungary, other European countries, such as Germany, have been more welcoming.

Last month, Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “There can be no tolerance of those who question the dignity of other people. There is no tolerance of those who are not ready to help, where, for legal and humanitarian reasons, help is due.”

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