Hacker News Reader

Comment by dogma1138 | Hacker News Reader

What I'm wondering about is if Germany and other EU countries don't mind taking the migrants with Merkel pledging to absorb as much as 800,000 of them why did Hungary closed it's rail system? Hungary doesn't want them, they use trains to get to Austria and Germany why close their only effective route to transport them to where they would be apparently accepted?

As some one who loathes conspiracy theories even I'm starting to wonder if Germany is pretty much threatening Hungary to prevent them from releasing the flood into central Europe while declaring that they'll take anyone who gets to Germany to appease voters. Because honestly I don't really see any other explanation to why countries like Hungary and even Italy (which prevents them from getting on trains to Switzerland) actually seem to keep the migrants forcibly within their territory while clearly not wanting them anywhere near it.

View on HN

Because it is against European law to forward them. The so called "Dublin regulation" states, that refugees have to seek asylum in the first European state in which they arrive.

Obviously this law largely benefits the midlands and wouldn't work with the current crisis. But nevertheless it is still the official law. So Hungary can only lose in this situation, either by stopping the trains or by breaking the law.

Hungary has suspended the application of the Dublin Regulation a month ago, it wasn't a signatory either. But non the less the Dublin regulation stated the the country in which the refugees register is responsible for them, it didn't state that they should be denied freedom of movement and the suspension of the train system by the Hungarian authorities was seen as a breach of the Dublin agreement as well.

I hope you don't just want to argue...

"Article 10 1. Where it is established, on the basis of proof or circumstantial evidence as described in the two lists mentioned in Article 18(3), including the data referred to in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000, that an asylum seeker has irregularly crossed the border into a Member State by land, sea or air having come from a third country, the Member State thus entered shall be responsible for examining the application for asylum. This responsibility shall cease 12 months after the date on which the irregular border crossing took place."

Therefore the first state entered is responsible for the registration and then for the application for asylum.

And no, the Dublin regulation doesn't state denial of freedom of movement. But they never had such. The Schengen law is only valid for members of the European Union. Everyone else has to get a visum. They were legally not allowed to enter Hungary in the first place, why would they be allowed then to enter another state without getting asylum first?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com