Migrants arrive at Austria border

Risingbd Desk: Migrants are arriving in Austria after Hungary`s surprise move to provide buses for them.

For days, Hungary had blocked migrants from travelling by train to Western Europe, saying it was obliged to register them, sparking angry scenes.

Austria says it has agreed with Germany to let the arrivals cross their borders.

European Union states are struggling to agree on how to deal with an unprecedented surge in migrants.

Buses began arriving at Keleti station, central Budapest, late on Friday, which for days has become a makeshift camp for thousands of migrants.

Vehicles were also sent to collect hundreds who broke away from the camp to walk on foot along the main road to Austria.

When the buses arrived, some argued with officials, fearful they would be arrested rather than sent to Germany, the BBC`s Matthew Price reported.

But later, small groups began crossing the border, with some Austrians putting up welcome signs.

"I feel [at] home," said Ayaz Morad, one of the first to arrive. "This is a great land - nice people, nice government."

Many of the migrants hope to travel on to Germany, which has said it expects to take in 800,000 people this year.

The Hungarian government said it had despatched the buses so that the country`s transport network would not become "paralysed".

Austria`s Chancellor Werner Faymann said that after talks with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, the two countries would allow in the migrants due to the "emergency situation" on Hungary`s borders.

But he said he expected Hungary to respect any EU quotas for asylum seekers - something Hungary, along with the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, has rejected.

risingbd/Sept 05, 2015/Aminul