Special Report Part 3: Migrant Crisis Live from Budapest

Budapest is a beautiful city. In fact even in an objective opinion, it can be called one of the most gorgeous creations. It simply is just amazing. It is also sometimes referred to as the centre of Europe, due to its geographical location. However, this year it also became the centre of something else. The migrant crisis that is engulfing the EU. 

The sad truth of the matter is that the demographics  of the world is changing, and we must accept it. There is nothing we can do at this point to change or stop it.

This year already, almost 100,000 migrants have crossed into Hungary alone (and thus the EU) illegally. And many more were probably missed by authorities. The ones who chose this route over the Mediterranean, usually come from warn torn regions such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan or from parts of the world where they have few opportunities and bad living conditions such as Pakistan and Kosovo. Many of them travel to Budapest on foot, and sleep with the capital's homeless in public spaces and underpasses.

Of course we want to help these people, and not let them die miserably, but there is only so much that we can do. We can't let everyone in, that would be madness. It already is though. 

Legally, each country has the right to protect its citizens and borders, so it is an acceptable choice that countries such as Hungary are building border fences to keep these people out. We have the right to defend and protect ourselves. Yes, it is true that these actions make us remind of the Berlin Wall, but there is simply nothing else that can be done at this point. 

At least this time we are keeping people out, and not in. Slightly better after 25 years of evolution one might say. 

However, many governments fear that ISIS and Boko Haram terrorists are hiding among the mass influx of people, who disguised as refugees, can get into Europe relatively easily. This is one of the best reasons why it is acceptable to close borders altogether. This is of course only a few individuals among tens of thousands of people, but its already enough for tragedy to happen if one of them gets through. Some may say that this is selfish, and that tragedies happened to these people everyday. But at the end of the day, legally the EU is responsible for its own citizens. It may be hard, but priorities must be made and kept.

Just last week there was an incident on a train from Amsterdam to Paris where a suspected migrant was preparing for a terrorist attack. Luckily, he was stopped last minute. But we may not always be so lucky. 

The other good argument is the question of what is expected of us. Let's continue with the case of Hungary. Hungary has had a massive gypsy minority for a few centuries now, and relations between them and the locals on a national level is simply horrible. They are not integrated into our society, and tensions remain high. If we let in tens of thousands of Afghans, how are they expected to be integrated? We can't even live among gypsies, with whom we speak the same language and partially share Christianity.

It is nonsense. We understand that as human beings, it is our duty to help, but there are limits here. 

We could build migrant centres where all the refugees could live together, apart from us, but this plan has now become unrealistic. 

We can't make accommodations for a 100,000 people. Especially not in a blink of an eye. We can only build fences. But probably even that won't work. It may buy us some time, but that's about it. 

This is why it not acceptable to criticise our governments as being racist or lacking a heart. First and foremost they are responsible for us, and public law and order. They can't just allow a 100,000 people to enter and live on our streets without supplies. Eventually they would want supplies no matter what, and that would endanger the lives and well being of locals. Last year, when only a few thousands of them arrived, the conditions were already horrible, but countries like Hungary took them in. This year that can't be done anymore, as the influx has increased more than ten fold. 

We must accept the fence, and look for other ways to help. Therefore it is the duty of us, the public, to donate and help out the charities who are doing what they can. I urge you to visit the International Red Cross' site where you can find many way to help those who need it the most: https://www.icrc.org/en/support-us/audience/foundations.

This is Part 3, and the finale of the new series: Europe in the 21st Century: Struggles and Solutions. The images used are the property Istvan Bielik (Origo) and Oliviere Morin (AFP). This is an original material of Finchley 1959.