andrew simmons, al jazerra, in macedonia. >>> andrew simmons is in there on that border town there where the refugees have been waiting to take trains north, andrew, what is happening there now? >> reporter: well, lauren, i am just outside the town and this is, as you can see, open countryside. what is going on behind me is a digger is spreading over this entire area, clearing the area to form a transit center. nearby is a railway, and a railway is -- has got makeshift sort of platforms with wooden supports. they are going to use this area basically to fast track refugees out of the country effectively. they'll go straight by train or bus to the serbian border. what has actually happened is quite political. in fact the macedonian government originally angered by the greek government's action in chartering a ship and a number of ships bringing refugees in to greece and then them going over the border here in to bass down i can't, they couldn't cope with the numbers, that's why they closed the border. then, of course, immense pressure came down on the government here to reopen the border b

andrew simmons has this report. >> by the day the numbers are harder to di jesus. here is what called the one-stop center, more than 10,000 people have passed through in less than five days. further up the line more than 2,000 a day are arriving. the number registered so far this year has passed 100,000 compared with 43,000 in the hole of last year. the numbers are stackering, so, too, is the availability of the european union to come up with this one. they have only 72 hour visas being issued, and well, look at the numbers. they're extraordinary. it gets more complicated. germany predicts it will deal with 800,000 asylum application this is year. it wants a fairer system of quotas for member states to take in refugee. what is more, the e.u. wants a tougher policy on those they doesn't away as economic migrants. most of these people are refugees from syria. they're friedenned about what --we don't know what will happen in hungary. maybe they will take them to jail. >> hungary is going to become an even bigger pressure point in this crisis, and the government is cri

andrew simmons reports. >> the border play be open again, the only problem, an occasional struggle. macedonia's interior minister came to defend the decision to close the border last week. here too austria's foreign minister talking about what the european union was or rather wasn't doing about the situation right now. in the brief time they spent with refugees, amanwanted to ged to say something. >> why do they make a safe zone in syria? >> macedonia's interior minister blamed grease saying it had to control or security. >> our intention was not to close the border but to protect it. >> this was confrontation with refugees. in humanitarian terms surely it was a disaster. >> our efforts were motivated by the humanitarian situation. in it's also the fault of grease pap if there is no support for the refugees there. >> what are you going to do apart from meeting with greece? >> with germany and some commissioner is from the european union. >> those words have been heard before and the fact is that little changes for these people apart from the of boarding trains like this one, away fr

andrew simmons spoke about the latest restrictions. >> the hungarian government is defending its restrictions, saying people without visas, can't leave the country. this is what the minister said about the issue. >> it's completely unacceptable that over 150,000 people come through your green borders without any kind of discipline order and law. what we are trying to reestablish is between the borders of hungary and serbia, is some kind of influx of order. >> is that really the right approach? >> it is the best approach for those arriving through green borders. who might be economic migrants, we don't know because they don't have papers, no way of providing their identification. to establish rules, not only hungary butter european union would be able to handle this. >> the international office of migration, an abandons of human rights groups are asking for a different approach for hungary to be more coordinated in its approach rather than building a 175 kilometer fence. ownerfence. aren't you wanting to give them sanctuary rather than turning them around and sending them away? >> up until we

to what is happening next for the refugees who have been stuck at these railway stations. >> andrew simmons reporting from budapest. >>> one ukrainian guards man is dead and others wounded after an explosion outside of kiev's parliament building. the blast happened shortly after lawmakers initially approved a constitutional change that would give pro-russian separatists in the east more autonomy. hundreds protesting that law clashed with security forces. >> more than 6,000 paging of hillary clinton's messages will be made public. officials in puerto rico say they need a few more days before they release a plan to tackle their huge debt problem. a group appointed by the commonwealth's governor was expected to deliver a plan today, but the governor's office said that the deadline was extended until septembe september 8th because of tropical storm erikia. the plan will reduce puerto rico's $72 billion debt. making a difference. looking inside efforts to distribute a drawing aimed at preventing heroin overdoses. we take a look back at the life and legacy of the man known as the master of horror

andrew simmons who is on the macedonian side of greece. beginning that journey further into urine many have managed to get through. >> reporter: that's right. there's a really mixed up policy here by the macedonian government effectively. one moment confrontation then some sort of appeasement and over saturday night some 1500 migrants and refugees crossed the border without papers. you'll see behind me one bus of about 50 being used to drive them up north to the serbian border. the government is trying to it would appear restrict the numbers getting in and getting them straight out to serbia. from there they go on to hungary and into the european states such as germany france and so on. it's an appalling situation for these migrants and refugees. the major of them are syrian. they're confused, don't know where to go. they're being channeled into a railway station, has been throughout this crisis a focal point. one train has left very early morning but there are still hundreds of people lining the platform in absolutely appalling conditions

andrew simmons followed the journey of hundreds of people as they went from budapest to western europe. >> reporter: yet another queue for wary refugees, yet, this is a break through, hundreds allowed to board trains for germany. this is happening a few hours after the hungarian government told al jazeera there could be no travel across eu borders but visas. none of these have visas yet they are crammed board a train and about to leave. yet there's confusion and delays for several hours, it's because the austrian railway was not happy with the overcrowded conditions and wanted to transfer passengers to other trains. this man talks about his elation after one month of traveling. >> i have a rend in germany, maybe in germany, germany is big, big country, and maybe go good, generally it is good. >> reporter: but some refugees were stressed whether they were free ocarry on across the border and didn't believe rail officials. after an hour and a half came relief. it's stifling in here. this train is packed to overflowing. and these people are all celebrating because they're convinced they'r

andrew simmons reports now in hungary. >> unrest of the european union border. the trouble did not escalate beyond this registration center, and it was short lived. but with record numbers crossing into hungary there are fears of violence here. the police are trying to play down the crisis. >> what happened was there was a small conflict that erepresented and several people tried to approach the fence. the policemen tried to stop them, and they also used tear gas for the injuries. >> the fence is being put up on the border. but right now thousands of people are getting through section where is there was only razor wire. the police here are failing to make arrests. more than 2,000 police are sent to this border to reinforce it. and next week the government will vote on bringing the army here. back at the serbian captain their record numbers. refugees say they've been treated better in serbia than in greece and macedonia, but they're worried about getting into hungary. some of belgrade's parts have become the last transit points before the e.u. border. most of the

as he mentioned earlier today, andrew simmons spoke with a spokesman about the latest restriction. >> it is about whether illegal border country which we're trying to fix. it's completely unacceptable that over 150,000 people come through green borders without any kind of discipline, order or law. we're trying to establish at the borders of hungary and serbia is which is law and order and put some kind of discipline in this huge influx of illegal migrants. >> discipline, order and law over refugee who is are escaping an absolutely appalling war in syria. is really that the right approach? >> it is in the best interest of those arriving through the green borders who might be refugees, or who might be economic migrants, we don't know because they don't have papers. they don't have any way of proving their identities. the established rules, it is only through rules that hungary but also the european union would be able to handle this. >> ban ki-moon, the international office of migration, abundance of human rights groups are asking for hungary to be more local and careful and coordinatin

andrew simmons reports from hungary. >> unrest in of the european union border. the trouble did not escalate beyond this registration center, and it was short lived. but with record numbers crossing into hungary, there are fears of violence here. the police are trying to play down the crisis. >> what happened was there was a small conflict and several people tried to approach the fence. then a policeman tried to stop them, and they used tear gas but there weren't many injuries. >> a three peter high depends was put on the border. but right now thousands of people are getting through sections where there is only razor wire. the police here are failing to make arrests. >> hungary's government is taking a tougher line. more than 200 police are being sent to this border to reinforce it. next week the government will vote on plans to deploy the army here. >> in belgrade up to 3,000 people a day have been boarding buses bound for the hungarian border. they are record numbers. refugees say that they've been treated better i there than in greece. >> this woman ran from h

andrew simmons. al jazeera. >> his take right now. >> they're continuously boarding trains and getting into buses out of macedonia, that is the policy of this government. now they want to hear from europe as to how they'll help them pay for all of this. because there is no real policy here. there's no way of actually dealing with the humanitarian situation or the logistical one. right now macedonia is planning to carry on this way, moving people away, but solutions that's down to europe and so far they've failed to get any solution to this problem. >> so macedonia has opened its border with greece but border guards are only letting through very small groups. they want to prevent some kind of rush, crush. jonah hull sends us this report from where more and more people are arriving every day. >> here on the greek side of the border it is busy but for the moment, a system seems to be working. more coming all the time. they are able to access basic aid, food, water, shelter, before continuing their journ

andrew simmons reports. >> yet another queue for wary refugees, hundreds are allowed to boo board trains for germanyd austria, after waiting rough on the sidelines. none of these people have visas, yet now they are crammed inside a train bound for munich and cleared to leave. at the austrian border there is confusion and delays of several hours. wanted to transfer passengers to other trains. this man from syria talked of his elation after one month of traveling. >> i have a friend in germany. i will go there, and i will teaching where i will go. maybe germany because germany is big country and maybe good. all good. >> reporter: but some refugees were stressed whether they were free to carry on across the board anborder and didn't beliey could carry on. it's stifling in here and this train is overflowing, they are all convinced they are about to cross the border. they don't have visas but it seems exceptions are being made and the journey goes ahead. at last, on their way to the destinations they have grown to doubt they'd ever see. andrew simmons, al jazeera, on the hungary austria borde

andrew simmons has been speaking to them. >> families walking in the sweltering midday heat. most have run out of water, but they still have the will to carry on. they're so exhausted that some don't even realize the white post they're passing mark the border. it marks their entrance into the european union. it's hard to take in the fact that these people have walked more than 15 kilometers in this searing heat. another stage in this long journey. even though they're crossing into the european union, the problems aren't over. these people are like hundreds of others haven't tried to run away from the hungarian border police. they're rounded up and taken to registration camps. women and children get priority. and the bus leaves behind people who are frustrated and unsure of what happens next. this man is from damascus and syria. he made two attempts to cross from turkey to greece by sea. on the first he was arrested and detained. on the second he was rescued by the coast guard. >> this was the most difficult. this one, this, you know, this that we had from the greek border to

. >> andrew, thank you very much, indeed, andrew simmons there. we're going to bring that to the unhcr assistant high commissioner for protection. joining us from unhcr headquarters in geneva. a complete rethink. our correspondent said that the message he gives to a lot of people, but what kind ofry think is needed? >> well, obviously we need a very comprehensive approach to address the situation. we need first of all a lot of support for the neighboring countries of syria. we have over 4 million syrian refugees in lebanon, turkey, jordan, egypt and in iraq and in a number of other countries. it is clear that they require as much support as we can possibly give them. we need to give support to greece. greece over the last couple of months has received over 160,000 refugees that have crossed the mediterranean. we require support for the western balkans for countries like macedonia and serbia in order to voi offer food, water, shelter, all the things that we've seen on these dramatic footage. >> what is happening as andrew simmons said, people just

andrew sim ups -- al jazerra's andrew simmons is in the capital buttbudapest. >> reporter: for now this for people who left war zones looking to sanctuary and they can go no further. many weren't warned not to buy international rail tickets. police stopped them from boarding trains. this syrian mother spent the last of her savings on nonrefundsable tickets. now she regrets not paying people smugglers instead. >> translator: i feel angry. all countries helped us except hungary, macedonia let us cross, they let us use the train going to serbia. every day we talked hours to reach the border and my feet became swole end. i had to carry my baby all the way. i am exhausted. >> reporter: she has little hem. there are only a few volunteers giving advice to the refugees. >> we cannot only blame the smugglers because we are we are giving the smugglers better and better business by not letting these people take a train. >> reporter: hungary is ignore all criticism of their handling of crisis it stands accused of stripping away the rights of refugees and is preparing new legislation that means thou

andrew simmons, al jazeera, in macedonia. >>> let's cross now on the greece/macedonia border and whathappening there? >> reporter: about 100 meters or so down the rail way tracks the rail way station inside macedonia where andrew compiled that on this side of the border things are busy but relatively in order and there is a system of the chaos in the resent days. these people have just arrived at this point. they are able here to take a break and can get some assistance from the aid agencies gathered here, food, water as well as basic medical care if they need it. and on the other hand over there where the macedonia police have spread razor wire and armed and controlling that crossing point. it's not an official border by any means whatsoever but every hour or so they allow groups of perhaps 200 people or so to walk on down the rail way tracks into macedonia and a much more ordered scene we have seen in resent days but make no mistake there are many people here and many more coming. >> it seems that way from what you are showing us there, more people are still arriving and that doesn'

andrew simmons, al jazeera, macedonia. >>> many of the refugees coming into macedonia are arriving frome. and jonah is there from the port of perez outside of athens, what is happening there at the moment, jonah? >> reporter: yeah, around half of all refugee arrivals into the european union come in through greece. i'm standing at the key side of athens port and waiting for arrival of the passenger ferry in two hours of 2500 refugees being transported to athens from the island of lesbos and that and other islands on the front line of this massive wave of humanity into the european union. this will be the fifth boat load in a week since shuttle trips were arranged and that is 12 hours crossing and 12,500 and others come here by passenger ferry on their own or bi-plane load at some 50,000 arrivals in july alone, august figures look set to be higher. we have been in touch this morning with the authorities on the lesbos, the mayor's office confirms 10,000 people are currently sitting in two makeshift reception centers in extremely rudimentary conditions, a thousand more arriving every single

andrew simmons is in the capital budapest. >> reporter: for now this is home for people who left carones looking to sanctuary, and they can go no further. many weren't warned no the to buy international rare tickets, police stop them from boarding trains. this syrian mother spent the last of her savings on nonrefundable till et cetera. now she regrets not paying people smugglers instead. >> translator: i feel angry all countries helped us except hungary, macedonia let us cross, they let us use the train going tto serbia. every day we walked hours to reach the border and my feet became swing i had to carry my baby all the way and i am exhausted. >> reporter: she has little help. >> we cannot only blame the smugglers because we are giving an en sensitive for them. we are giving them better bids by not letting these people take the train. >> reporter: hungary's government is ignoring all criticism about how they are slappeddalling the crisis, it's preparing a raft of new legislation which could mean thousands of refugees are sent back to serbia a nearly all the refugees here have crosse

andrew simmons is in the southern border town. from there they can take further roots west many heading to germany. let's look at the start of their journey. >> of the many stages in their long journey still to come, many on this island of lesbos has been comfortable and secure. they paid $50 each to a ferry operator instead to a people smuggler, and they arrived on dry land. >> we came from our country. >> are you happy to be here? do you feel relief to be here? >> we're so happy here. >> we're ten. >> we come to turkey, now we're going to macedonia, serbia, and hungaria. >> have you heard about the troubles on route in the last few days? >> i've heard so much. >> are you worried about that? >> yes, yes. >> back on the islands the european front line are coming. many are arriving by sea from turkey every night. the authorities of greece are overwhelmed offering little but a civil registration document that allows the refugees to pass through the country and leave. >> they told you you could stay in greece for three months and the

andrew simmons is at that border with the latest. >> unrest at the european union border. u.n. help they're chanting. it was short-lived but with record numbers now crossing into hungary and the buildup of security forces there are fears of violence here. police are trying to play down the crisis. >> translator: what happened was that there was a small conflict that erupted and several people tried to approach fence. then the police tried ostop them and they used tear gas but there wasn't any injuries. >> a large fence are is put up on the border, but some are getting through where there's only razor wire. hungary's right wing government is taking a tougher line. 2,000 police are sent to the border to reinforce it. and next week the government will vote on whether to deploy the army here. 3,000 people a day are boarding buses bound for hungarian border. refugees say theye they are tred better in serbia than in greece or macedonia. some of the last transit points before the eu border, this woman fled from tremendous violence in aleppo but she is holding off, because she is worri

andrew simmons, aljazeera, syria. >> help from halfway around the world, there's now more manpower to fight the wildfires. and yes, how joe biden is quietly preparing for a possible white house run. >> firefighters battling a dozen wildfires in washington state, they are concerned about lightning in the forecast. there are is it major wildfires burning in washington state. and the largest covers almost 260,000 acres. state officials are asking the public for help. >> the first request in washington for volunteers to help fight the massive fires burning across the state. robert rusk has returned to his hometown, compelled to help. >> i'm very connected to the community and the people here. i feel a responsibility to do what i can. >> reporter: annas tonnishing 5,000 people from near and far called, emailed or marched through the doors of city hall, asking what they can do. >> it's way more than we expected. it has been a humbling experience to see people offering whatever they could. i got a guy from alabama, who said i got boots and a bag, and i can come on up. great. >> reporter: 15,

. >> we go to andrew simmons, on the mas macedonian border with greece. >> in the heat of macedonia's border with greece, as the pace of their journeys may have quickened, politicians are bogged down with arguments. came to a makeshift detention center, here too austria's foreign minister talking about what the european union was or wasn't doing about the situation right now. in the brief time they spent with refugees, in syria wanted to get a word in. >> i can't tell you to solve this problem for syrian refugees. why did they then make safe zone in syria? >> didn't have an toons that question. macedonia's interior ministry proclaimed grease saying it had no controls or security on its border. >> translator: our intention was not to close the border but to protect it. >> reporter: this is confrontation with hftion. them. >> what are you going to do apart from blaming greece? >> we have a meeting with all the western balkan countries and germfully and commissioners from the european union. >> reporter: but those words have been heard before and the fact is that little changes for these

andrew simmons reports from macedonia. >> reporter: in the heat of macedonia's border with greece the pathway for refugees may be fully opened again. the only confrontation occasional minor scuffles. as the pace has quickened politicians are bogged down with arguments. macedonia's interior minister defended the decision to close the border last week. talking about the what the european union was or wasn't doing about the situation right now. in the brief time they spent with refugees, iman al shebali, wanted to get a word in. >> to solve this problem for syrian refugee why then make safe zone in syria? >> sebastian kurtz didn't have an answer to that question. macedonia's interior minister blamed greece saying it had no controls or security on its border. >> translator: our intention was not to close the border but to protect it. >> this was confrontation with refugees, in humanitarian terms surely it was a disaster. >> our efforts were motivated by the humanitarian situation. >> it's also the fault of greece. if there is no support for the refugees there. >> what are you going to do

andrew simmons, joins us now live. so tell us what's happening there right now. >> reporter: well, aside from this goods train coming past not a great deal right now lauren. extraordinary amount of activity throughout the day with hundreds queuing up in the main railway station in budapest and getting on board for the first time in a number of weeks. a complete break through several trains in fact at least 4, and a fifth train coming, expecting to leave peud pest in a budapest i. headed for munich. people are ecstatic. however, there have been as the trains have arrived here they have been inspected by the austrian railway. the takeover of staff there and the austrian railway has insisted that the numbers were far too heavy on the train, overcrowding right the way through and they laid on extra trains to move them forward to austria to vienna and from there to munich on the main international train.but the people were really, really distrustful of the railway staff, looking very vessed indeed beforstressedindeed. we fo

open to so many more regulations that are really needed to control this crise. >> may be thanks, andrew simmons there on the border between hungary, serbia and romania. >> plenty more still to come here on this news hour. fail to mend fences, venezuela and columbia at odds over a border dispute that led to the deportations of hundreds of colombians. >> it's been 10 years since hurricane katrina devastated this city. we'll look at why despite all the help there is now growing inequality here. >> sport coming up later. >> the u.n. special envoy to libya said that he's confident that a peace deal with be reached by mid september. he was updating the security council on talks between the two rival parliaments. a new round of discussions, the former unity government is due to start in morocco on thursday. he says that the scale of human suffering in libya is staggering and that a deal must be made to help relieve the humanitarian crisis. >> a truce between syria and rebels and government forces has been extended. the government and hezbollah began a truce which is on the lebanese border on thursday.

. >> already now we can go to andrew simmons, our correspondent, back from the macedonian side of the border with greece. and andrew, let's start with the austrian foreign minister, who has come into town. he has had some fairly important remarks to say. >> he certainly has. he has arrived to see this reception area, which is really just a makeshift area, which is going to be sealed off from the public from anybody else around, and used at a point from where all of these refugees travel by train to serbia. those images that you'll see of thousands reaching serbia are all from this point. this will continue. it's going to be a policy of this government now to process, as they put it, refugees in this way. the foreign minister for austria basically said that really what had happened with this government had been left high and dry without facilities, without resources. the greeks have not played it the way they should do. they have not put security on the border. they have not processed any of the refugees, and as a result a massive number were trying to cross the border, and you saw the

thing, the biggest movement of people since the second word war, it's diabolical in places. >> andrew simmons in macedonia. as andrew was indicating, so many people from where he is have now moved further up the line. they've gone across the border into serbia. we can join our correspondent on the serbian side of the border. >> they are queuing in huge numbers, registering here. they are allowed to freely move toward north of the serbia towards belgrade and further towards hungary. right next to me is a representative from doctors beyond borders. what are your tigs saying about the number of people actually coming here? >> we estimate for the last four days between 8,000 to 10,000 people who crossed the border. as you can see, there are some long queues for registration. the days are hot and the nights are cold, and most people, most of them have two weeks of travel with long distance walking and they are tired, exhausted. they need shelter, food accommodation and their goal is to get to western europe as fast as possible. >> do you think that these governments, particularly government in ser

live now to our correspondent andrew simmons in the hungry capit capitol budapest. . >> reporter: thanks, marteen, last week there was call after call for some more unity among european states. this week it's starting with even more division, hungry on the offensive, defending plans it has to tighting up on asylum law to crack down to turn them back if they can through legal means to go through parliament this week and also attacking the foreign minister of france for criticizing the 175 millimeters fence that is being completed to effectively keep all the refugees out of the country and it's not only defendingly hungry but defending the eu and we have a situation where hundreds of hundreds of refugees are stuck here in the hungarian capitol, being refused to get on trains to places like austria and germany. for now this is home for people who left war zones looking for sanctuary and they can go no further. many weren't warned not to buy international rail tickets, police stopped them from boarding trains. this syrian mother spent the last of her savings on nonrefund

andrew simmons is there . >> this is the latest train to arrive on the australi austriann poured. there has been such an extraordinary situation happening in budapest with crowds running towards the railway station because thousands have been kept really stuck with nowhere to go, no allowed to get on trains, stuck living rough in the pavement outside the three main rail stations in the hungarian capital. now we have a situation where the only thing delaying things here is how overcrowded these international trains have become with so many people on board. not just syrians. there are also iraqis, bangladeshis, pakistanis as well. there is no precise answer why this came about but it does coincide with the hungarian government contacting the german government to seek clarification ton sawtojtonton the status of n refugees. whether there will be a free running service across the border or not, there is a rash of new measures by the hungarian government to stop the flow of refugees across the border from serbia into hungary. >> german chancellor angela merkel has hilt out on how the o

andrew simmons has 24 report from the country's border. >> by the day the numbers are hard to digest. here in what is called the one-stop center, an entrance into serbia from macedonia, more than 10,000 people have passed through in less than five days. and further up the line serbia's border with hungary, an e.u. member state, more than 2,000 a day are arriving. the number registered in hungary has passed 100,000 compared with 43,000 in the whole of last year. the numbers are staggering. and so, too, is the inability of the european union to come up with a coherent strategy and sharing the responsibility of helping refugees. >> it's chaotic registration centers such as this one that is worrying european leaders. very little in security checks, only 72 hour visas being issued, and look at the numbers, they're extraordinary. it gets more economy kateed. germany predicts it will deal with over a thousand refugees. and the e.u. wants a tougher policy to turn back people who are categorized as economic migrants. in northern serbia on the trail to try to cross into hungary most of these pe

al jazeera's andrew simmons is there. >> in the wide open approach one of budapest's main rail stations hundreds of people just doing what they can to get by, hoping that they can find some way into the e.u. state. they want to move to with the sanctuary and safety for a better life. now what has happened recently there has been people smugglers there are many here who have papers, but they only allow them to move around hungary. earlier there was a mass gathering a memorial for all those who died in the van in austria. candles were list. there was one mine of silence, and a very large gathering of people at the rail station. now they're back to normal. living in the rough here. there are moves by the city authorities to move all these people to move. the authorities here are coming down more heavily on the refugees and the migrants and insisting that they can't move anywhere. so many people are managing to break free, get away, or take the awful risks of those people who died by getting into advance and paying smugglers to get across the border and taking another risk. >> at least 105

hungarian capital, andrew simmons is there. >> this is the latest train to arrive on the austria hungary border. people without visas have been allowed to carry on if such numbers. an extraordinary thing happening in budapest, thousands have been kept really tucked with nowhere to go. not allowed to get on trains. stuck living rough in the pavement outside the three main rail stations in the hungarian capital. but now we have a situation where the only thing delaying things here is how overcrowded these international trains have become with so many people on board. not just srnz. thersyrians, there's alsoiraqisd afghans as well. the hungarian government contacting the german government to clarify the status of syrian refugees, suggesting that germany will seven asylum applications from people fleeing the syrian war. whether or not there will be effectively a free-running rail service across the border or not, because there's a raft of new measures being taken by the hungarian government to try and stop the flow of refugees across the border from serbia into hungary. >> german chancellor

macedonia declared a state of emergency and closed the crossing points for three days, andrew simmonsorts. >> reporter: in the heat of macedon macedonia's border with greece the pathway for refugees may be fully open again with a confrontation and occasional minor scuffles but as the journeys may have quickened they are bogged with arguments and came to a makeshift reception center to defend the decision to close the border last week and here to foreign minister talking about what the european union was or wasn't doing about the situation right now. in the brief time they spent with refugees the man who is an oil engineer from serbia wanted to get a word in. >> to solve this problem for sierran refugees and why this is on syria. >> reporter: europe's youngest foreign minister didn't have an answer to the question. macedonia blamed greece saying it had no controls or security on its border. >> translator: our intention was not to close to border but to protect it. >> this was confrontation with refugees. in humanitarian terms surely it was a disaster. >> translator: our efforts were mo

this is a developing crisis, it's getting worse rather than better felicity. >> andrew simmons with them budapest. thanks for that update, andrew. >>> hundreds of refugees have also crossed the mediterranean to italy. but as we report the reception they often receive there is not what they had been expecting. >> reporter: a cry for help from a refugees center that looks more like a prison. these are some of the 64 nigerian women rescued in july from the mediterranean sea, like thousands before and after them, they were hoping for a better life in europe. but their rescuers became their jailers. they are being held in one of italy's identification and expulsion centers. a one-stop shop before deportation. >> in libya i was in hell, because in libya. [ inaudible ] every day fight, every day war. at times. [ inaudible ] ripped the girls from libya. [ inaudible ] >> reporter: this is not officially a prison, but it certainly looks like one. refugees are locked behind bars and their freedom of movement is limited. well, we have been told that we cannot film inside the rooms, but the girls he

. >> andrew simmons. thank you very much, indeed. >> well, the german chancellor angela merkel has been speaking on the crisis and hitting on the country's treatment of the refugees. >> we have a humanitarian responsibility. we need to establish region station centers and talk with african nations, talk to countries that are in civil war and ensure there is a fair distribution of refugees across europe. >> the french prime minister has visited calais and those who are waiting to cross over into united kingdom. the europe union has given france an extra $5.5 million to help refugees in calais in the camp known as the jungle. theprotesters tried to disrupt the announcement, but they were dragged away by place. >> we need to divide between european countries, the reception of those eligible for asylum. debate has been intense. too many countries are refusing to take their share. it is against the european spirit. we cannot accept it. >> an explosion during an demonstration has killed one national guards man

andrew simmons has this report from the macedonian border. >> reporter: there is no end it seems to theng, the exhaustion. it's a different place, a railway platform. waiting for another journey. at one point police and border patrol had been blocking it with force, now they are organizing transit for these people to pass through macedonia and then onto serbia. in the crush there is tension. a train has arrived. there is no way everyone can get on board. there doesn't seem to be any system on telling these people whether they have a right to board this train or not. it's hit and miss. people are pleading to soldiers to let them on board. they gain let people through in orderly lines, the anxiety turning in to smiles of relief. some of the security fors here are helpful and considerate. but any resistence to their orders is seen as provocation. one officer was heard telling a refugees, if you don't like this, then you should go back to syria. and this man was saying that even though he had the right papers, he wasn't being allowed on the train. >> we are mean beings. >> okay, it's enough

andrew simmons have the latest from belgrade. >> reporter: news about this tear gas being fired at the registration center is causing a lot of alarm here at this camp. this is the last point where people reach before they make their journey to the hungarian border, crossing akrong razor wire points and hoping they won't encounter any difficulties. i spoke to one syrian woman who said she inning tends to stay here until she is sure it is safe. others intend to cross at night. there is more and more numbers here. we are reaching a point of record every time around, and what we're hearing from the border is that this incident was over fairly quickly, but 3 to 400 people were being asked to give their fingerprints at the registration center, and that means they will have to seek asylum in the countries they are in. they want to move on to countries such as germany, u.k., france, and austria. we're hearing the position of the government of hungary is quite hard lined and they are now considering deploying the army. they have already announced that extra police, dogs, horses, mounted police

andrew simmons, al jazeera on the hungary serbia border. >> south sudan's president has signed a peace deal at ending two years of violence in the country. he signed the agreement in the presence of regional leaders. but he's expressed reservations over whether it will end the country's civil war. they threatened immediate action if they failed to agree to the deal. we report from the south sudan. >> reporter: when the fighting started in december 2013, people fled to the safety of u.n. bases in several towns. now, 20 months later, more than 200,000 people are still living under the protection of the u.n. what began as a fight between soldiers killed and injured thousands of people. the violence didn't stop in the capital. it spread from town to town destroying neighborhoods and leaving tens of thousands of dead in its wake. the conflict soon took a dimension when the new tribe was pitted against the tribe of the president. everyone has a story to tell. when fighting came to her village, she was forced to run. >> translator: sometimes my heart tells me he's alive. but sometimes i get d

let's go to andrew simmons on the macedonia side of the border with greece. what's happening there? >> you have just joined me as a train arrived. as you can see here, let's take a look at this platform. so many people here, all of them just exhausted, having gone across the border, most of them over saturday night, having had confrontations with the police. they are now here in this miserable place. it gives you some idea of just how bad things are. people have been camping out here. the macedonian government is trying to restrict them from crossing. that's why saw enthe confrontations. the people feel something is happening, they feel there is hope of getting out of here. and a train is waiting nearby. they have registered, but there is no way that everyone here is going to fit on this train just along that platform there, if you can see, there is no way they will all fit on that train. around 200. that's no more than an eighth of the number here. so what you have is this strange situation that no one is quite sure what is going to happen next. the government has a hard hand in th

andrew simmons, al jazeera, hungary. >> well, thousands of people have been protesting in beirut once again. the demonstrators issuing an ultimatum that the government meet their demands within 72 hours. they were prompted with garbage rallies. people on the streets angry that the government cannot provide the basic services. there has been no precedence of lebanon for more than a year. and the parliament extended it's own term until 2017. our reporter is live for us now in beirut. if they don't want the car, wh a change in government, what do they want. >> this is not a rally against the government, per se. it's against the institution. belong term theyer want a new parliamen parliamentary system that would shift away from the set up to the state whereby each sect, the shias, or the sunnies have a specific number of seats or specific positions in the power structure that are dedicated to them and shift to a more of a system based on meris. they say the problem here is not just that this government in trying to provide these basic services, but even if the government was filled with p

andrew simmons have the latest from serbia now. >> reporter: this is described as a one-stop center, entrance into serbia for these people. more than 10,000 passing through here in less than five days. they are intent on getting to hungary, an e.u.-member state that has registered 100,000 people so far this year. that's more than double the entire amount for 2014. the crisis is getting deeper all the time. this is the biggest refugee crisis since the second world war. germany is really concerned about the situation, predicting 800,000 asylum applications will be made in one year alone. the politicians are trying to reach some sort of coordinated approach, but they have failed so far, there's no doubt about that. the next step in the diplomatic wrinkle will be the west bakken summit where they will try to get an agreement. hungary wants more money there, and there will be very hard talking. >>> the red cross is suspending aid operations in aden after an attack on its personnel there. all local and foreign staff are being withdrawn. it says it hopes to resume operations if the security

thousands of refugees are taking shelter in serbia, andrew simmons sent this report from the town. >> by the day, the numbers are harder to digest. here in what's called the one stop center, an entrance to serbia from macedonia, more than 10,000 people have passed through in less than five days. further up the line at serbia's border with hungry, an e.u. member state, more than 2,000 a day are arriving. the number registered in hungary so far this year has passed 100,000 compared with 43,000 in the whole of last year. the numbers are staggering, and so, too, is the inability of the european union to come up with a coherent strategy in sharing responsibility of helping reef gees. >> it's chaotic registration centers such as this one that are really worrying european union leaders. very few in the way of security checks, only 72 hour visas being issued and look at the numbers. they're extraordinary. >> it gets more complicated. germany predict it will deal with 800,000 asylum applications this year. it wants a fairer system of quote at as for member states to take in refugees. the e.u.

who land in greece, and make their way north and further along the west balkins migration rout, andrew simmonss at a boarder post between hung barry, serbia, and romania. >> this is the 3 1/2 meter separates hungparates gar from serbia. it is 175-kilometers long, and you can see the razor wire attacked there. but there's a problem, because it comes to an end just here, and it is totally open. i am stepping back now into romania. and there's no separation between romania and serbia, you can see this is a monument. now the prime minister has been criticized for putting this fence up, simply because there are so many anolllies. it is many say to cut through the fence, and also well you can sigh criminals can easily exploit this open ground to smuggle people through. one of the many problems the e. tu. faces in trying to proct it's borders. >> while the e.u. may be protecting it's border ms. of the countries bordering syria say they are at capacity. one of them is turkey. near the syrian border. the population of syrians here, 110,000. turkish population, 100 rate thousand. it is more than double

alone as the government is looking at stiffening the penalties for people who cross illegally and andrew simmonsin the capitol budapest. >> reporter: this is home for people who left war zones looking for sanctuary and they can go no further. many were not warned to buy international tickets and police stopped them from boarding trains. this syrian mother spent the last of her savings on nonrefundable tickets and regrets not paying people smugglers instead. >> translator: i feel angry. all countries helped us except hungry and macedonia let us used the train to serbia and we walked and my feet became swollen and i had to carry my baby all the way. i'm exhausted. >> reporter: she has little help and few volunteers giving advice to volunteers. >> we cannot blame the smugglers because we are giving them better business by not letting the people take the train. >> reporter: ignoring all criticism about how it's handling this crisis and stands accused of stripping away the rights of refugees and preparing new legislation which could mean thousands of refugees are sent back to serbia. nearly all of th

let's hear now from andrew simmons in the serbian town where tows of refugees who have crossed from macedonia trying to find shelter. >> reporter: this is described as a one-stop center, the entrance into serbia for these people. so many of them, more than 10,000 passing through here in less than five days. they are intent on getting to hungary, an e.u.-member state that has registered a hundred thousand people so far this year. that's more than double the entire amount for 2014. the crisis is getting deeper all the time. it is no exaggeration to say this is the biggest refugee crisis since the second word war. germany is predicting that 800,000 asylum applications will be made in one year alone. the politicians are trying to reach some sort of coordinate approach, but they have failed so far. there's no doubt about that. the next step in the diplomatic wrinkle will be the west bakken summit in vienna on thursday when they will try to get some agreement. hungary wants more money for its operation there, and there is going to be some very hard talking. >> these are the latest pictures from gre

fence to try to stop this flow of humanity, but it's not proving very effective as my colleague, andrew simmonsn the border there, explains. >> reporter: this is the 3.5 meter high security fence that separates hungary from serbia. it's 175 kilometers long. but there's a problem. because it comes to an end just here and it's totally open. i'm stepping back now into romania, and there's no separation, as you can see between romania and serbia over here. you can see this is a monument. now the prime minister of hungary has been criticized for putting this fence up, because it's easy, many people say to cut through the fence, and also you can see criminals could easily exploit this open ground to smuggle people through. one of many an onlilies the e.u. faces. >> reporter: despite this extraordinary flow of people into europe, the majority of displaced syrians is still being taken by the neighbors countries. bernard smith gave us this update from the turkish border. >> reporter: this is now a syrian town, that's how one government official has described it. the population of syrian refugees here, 1

andrew simmons, al jazeera. >> meanwhile, three children are being treated for dehydration in an austrianpital after being rescued from a van crammed with refugees. police pulled over the truck on friday near the german border. it was carrying 26 syrians and others. >> tens of thousands of protester its gathered in malaysia for a second day seeking the prime minister's resignation. they accuse the prime minister of corruption and mismanaging the economy. we k to some of the protesters. tired and hungry, they prepare for another day of protest. they traveled almost seven hours to be here sleeping on the concrete pavement overnight to show their support for a massive anti corruption rally. >> we want everybody to have equal opportunity, equal share of the country and everybody treats everybody equally. that's what we want. >> concerned about a police crackdown, they have carried masks to offen fend off tear ga. they're calling for the resignation of the prime minister and a more transparent bureaucracy. >> there are people from all walks of life here, some are professionals, many are studen