Germany: Migrants Arrive in Munich After Hungary Journey

At least 10,000 migrants have arrived in Munich after an arduous journey through Hungary and Austria.

German members of the public applauded and offered sweets as some 450 migrants arrived on a special train service.

The plight of the migrants has highlighted the EU’s struggle to deal with a surge of asylum seekers.

Earlier this week there were chaotic scenes in Budapest as Hungary blocked them from travelling onwards.

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Many migrants refused to be taken to camps in Hungary to register for asylum, insisting they wanted to travel on to Germany and Austria.

Crowds broke through security lines and began walking 108 miles to the border, many with small children.

Under mounting pressure, Hungary opened its border with Austria, which expects to have received some 10,000 people by the end of the day on September 5.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany can cope with an influx of newcomers, without raising taxes or jeopardizing its budget.

Austria has also said it will not limit the number of migrants crossing its borders.

However, there is little sign of a coordinated EU response to the crisis, despite more than 350,000 migrants having crossed the EU’s borders in 2015 alone.

Germany, backed by the European Commission, has been pushing for a quota system for dividing the people reaching Europe between member states. But this has been opposed by several eastern members.

On September 5, Hungary said that while it had temporarily relaxed restrictions on the transit of asylum seekers, it was pressing ahead with plans to tighten border controls and could send troops to its southern frontier if parliament agreed.