Train taking stranded migrants to Hungarian camp prompts clashes

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• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  We turn again to the migrant and refugee crisis in Europe. Another day brought more anger, desperation, and sorrow.

  We begin our coverage in Hungary, where James Mates of Independent Television News spent the day with refugees desperate to leave, but with no way out.

• And a warning:

  Some images tonight may be disturbing.

• JAMES MATES:

  For 48 hours, they have been kept out of Budapest central station, denied boarding on all trains. So when, inexplicably, this morning, the Hungarians reopened the platforms, chaos was entirely predictable.

  They rushed for the first train that came in, believing wrongly it was headed to Germany. Children were passed overhead, visibly distressed in the crush. They believed this was to be the first train out of Budapest and maybe even the last. Waiting did not seem to be an option.

• MAN:

  Germany, yes.

• JAMES MATES:

  There are constant announcements on the P.A. system that this train is not going anywhere, and please get off it. But after two days stuck in the station, they aren't listening. If anything, more people are getting on than getting off.

  The sign on the door clearly named a destination in Hungary, but in a foreign land, they had seen what they thought was a German name on the side of the carriage.

  "We have seen the German writing," this man said. "We think this train is going to Germany."

  A volunteer aid worker couldn't convince them otherwise.

• WOMAN:

  Maybe the train stays here. Maybe they go to a camp. I don't know, but no Germany, no. This is what the police say.

• JAMES MATES:

  Even as the train pulled out, there was an announcement there would be no international departures. But seeing the Danube pass below was enough to convince them all was going well. The heat in the crowded carriages was almost unbearable, our camera lens fogging up in moments.

  And within less than an hour, the news got worse. In the town of Bicske, there was a reception party. This was the end of the line. The passengers from one carriage were encouraged to leave, but as they were being corralled by policemen keeping themselves out in riot gear, they began to suspect the truth. They were being led away to a nearby refugee camp.

  "No camp," they chanted, and then the cry that is coming to define this crisis.

• CROWD:

  Germany! Germany! Germany!

• JAMES MATES:

  Sitting alone with a tiny baby, a mother pleaded not to go.

• WOMAN:

  Please.

• JAMES MATES:

  But then her husband grabbed her and the child and threw all three of them onto the tracks. He seemed to indicate his wife was pregnant.

  Acutely embarrassed of what was happening in front of the world cameras, the police none too gently arrested and handcuffed him. But worse was to come. Hearing the commotion from behind police lines, the rest began to revolt. First, a group broke through and away down the tracks. Then, faced with fighting a pitched battle, the police line gave way and allowed them back onto the train.

  Well, faced with a P.R. disaster, the Hungarian police have taken the line of least resistance and are now letting these people back on the train. What happens now, well, who knows. And finding out is going to be hard.

  Realizing this wasn't looking at all good…

  The world needs to see what happens to these people.

  … the cameras were swiftly and firmly pushed away. It seems the strategy now is to sit it out. There is no indication at all the train is going to move again, nor that those aboard are going to be given any choice but to go to a formal transit center and register as refugees here. The dream of a new life in Germany may not be happening for a while yet.