Refugees cold, hungry, and stuck in Serbia
HORGOS, Serbia -- Families with young children were forced to spend a cold night along a highway in Serbia, tantalizingly close to the next landmark on their quest for new lives in Western Europe, but they made it so far only to find they'd hit a dead end.
CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata was there in Horgos, a town that sits on the border with Hungary, where dozens of refugees have massed with nothing to eat and nobody to guide them to another way across. Hungary sealed its border with Serbia on Tuesday, closing the gaps in a brand new fence with reams of razor-wire.
Rohdi Layos from Syria told CBS News he still thinks Hungary will fold under pressure and reopen the border.
He told D'Agata he knew the border was shut even before he arrived in Horgos, but he's hopeful.
"If they maybe open this gate and we will go to our future -- and my mother is in Germany," he said.
But he's a long way from his mother now that Hungary has cut off the short cut.
That means after having traveled from Turkey to Greece, through Macedonia and Serbia, Layos and thousands like him now must go around Hungary, to Croatia and Slovenia, then cut across Austria in order to reach Germany.
Migrants have already begun the long walk in that direction, with some arriving by the busload in Croatia throughout the night and into Wednesday morning. The only legal way through Hungary now is to apply for asylum. Authorities at checkpoints are letting in handfuls of people at a time.
Somali refugee Sahufi Rahman tried, and didn't have to wait long for an answer. He was turned away, told to go back to Serbia.
"I can't do anything," a dejected Rahman told D'Agata. "I stay here because I cannot go Serbia, I cannot go Hungary, I stay here. I finish my life here I think."
About 9,000 people crossed the border into Hungary on Monday. On Tuesday Hungarian officials allowed just 70 people in to apply for asylum. Forty have been detained while their application is considered.
The rest have been rejected and immediately deported.