Hungarian Police Battle with Muslim Protesters in Migrant Camp Debrecen CitynnHungarian police have fired tear gas to subdue hundreds of peo...
Hungarian Police Battle with Muslim Protesters in Migrant Camp Debrecen CitynnHungarian police have fired tear gas to subdue hundreds of people fighting each other and throwing rocks in an overcrowded camp for migrants in the eastern city of Debrecen, authorities have said.nnWhile African Muslims leaks into Europe through Italy, Balkan Muslims leak in through Hungary. And with it comes Afghanistan-style Islamic riots. Meanwhile, in lack of EU’s willingness to effectively defend its borders, Hungary has decided to build a 200 km long, 4 meter high fence on the border to Serbia…nn…A conflict of a religious nature between two refugees (a turkish and an afgan) at the Debrecen camp was allegedly behind the riots that happened on a nearby road on Monday afternoon. About 100 migrants staying at the refugee camp in Debrecen, in eastern Hungary, started throwing stones at cars passing by on road 471 and beating the vehicles with sticks, according to eye-witnesses.nnLater, police said one officer took a hit from a stone and was slightly injured. Police appeared in raid gear and managed to drive the refugees back into the camp, behind a fence where they remained in a line, facing police and shouting, the correspondent said. The conflict turned violent after 2.30 pm when two refugees engaged in a row over religious (islam) matters, the local county police said.nnThe argument turned heated and “hundreds of others” joined in, including a man who allegedly “stamped his feet on the Koran”, police said, citing eyewitnesses. Another witness said one refugee took the other’s Koran, which contained 200 euros hidden among the pages. Police spokesperson Erika Demeter said the refugees blocked the nearby highway, lit rubbish bins and threw stones at cars passing by.nnnnRioting migrants also set fire to rubbish and a policeman was injured on Monday when a rock struck him in the head, Interior Ministry spokesman Attila Samu said.nn"The conflict broke out after a Turkish migrant seized the Quran of an Afghan migrant and [because] allegedly there were 200 euros of cash inside the Koran," Samu told the Reuters news agency.nn"This set off the initial conflict, in which subsequently hundreds were embroiled. They broke out of the camp, occupied a road, pelted rocks and set fire to garbage containers. Police then forced them back into the camp."nnThe camp, which was designed to hold about 823 people but is now crammed with 1,655, is located on the outskirts of Debrecen, 230km east of the capital Budapest.nnHungary, a landlocked central European country of 10 million people, is in the European Union's Schengen visa-free travel zone and thus an attractive destination for tens of thousands of migrants entering Europe through the Balkans from the Middle East and Africa. Most then move on to western Europe.nnHigh number of refugeesnnPrime Minister Viktor Orban's government has started constructing of a 175km fence along its border with Serbia, angering its southern neighbour.nnThe government has also sent the public questionnaires linking immigration to "terrorism" and launched a nationwide poster campaign urging migrants not to break laws or take jobs from Hungarians. nnIn a visit to Debrecen last month, Orban said the camp should be closed for good.nnPolice spokesman Denes Dobo said police had arrested one Turkish migrant. "Right now there is calm in the camp, police are upholding public order and security," he said.nnSamu said an extra 154 policemen were scrambled to the scene from nearby districts to restore order. They will remain on site as long as necessary, Samu added.nn'Boat is full'nnEarlier this month, Hungary indefinitely suspended the application of a key EU asylum rule, which requires claims by migrants to be processed in the EU country they first arrive in.nnZoltan Kovacs, the Hungarian government spokesman, said "the boat is full," referring to the recent influx of migrants. nn"We all wish for a European solution, but we need to protect Hungarian interests and our populaton," he said.nnThe EU has asked Hungary to urgently clarify its suspension of the rule.nnIn the first six months of this year, the number of migrants crossing into the EU via Hungary's border with Serbia exceeded 66,000, overtaking even the number arriving in Italy.nnThe increase in migrants is fuelling public hostility to the EU's open borders and to the EU project as a whole.nnEU summit talks last week over how to cope with the problem exposed sharp differences between nMediterranean states, which have borne the brunt of the influx, and poorer, former Communist central and east European countries, who fear costly disruptions from proposals to make them take in a share of those in transit.nnSource: Agencies Less
