SZENTGOTTHARD, Hungary — Migrants following a well-worn path into Western Europe used to know exactly where they wanted to go and how to get there. Not anymore.
Their journey has morphed into an exhausting, chaotic, unpredictable mess as Balkan states close their borders and squabble over how to respond to the unprecedented wave of humanity flowing across their territories.
Hungary’s decision to shut its border with Serbia on Sept. 15 set off a chain reaction in Croatia and Slovenia that has forced people fleeing violence in their homelands to rush from one European border to the next as they desperately try to find their way north before the rules change again.
Some 10,000 migrants flooded into Austria on Saturday after days of being shuttled from one country to another or seeing their paths blocked by border guards with dogs, razor-wire fences, barricaded bridges or riot police. Some were sent on chaotic trips from Serbia through Croatia, over to Hungary and up to Austria.
Hungary’s foreign minister accused Croatia of dumping hundreds of migrants upon his country in buses, while Slovenia’s prime minister accused Croatia of failing to fulfill its European responsibilities.
Tens of thousands more migrants are expected to enter Europe as people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia cross the seas from Turkey to Greece and head north through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary.
“I have no idea where this journey will bring me, because I do not know which border after Serbia will be open,” Mustafa Alrufay, a 26-year-old from Iraq, said Saturday at a refugee camp in Gevgelija, Macedonia. “I also have no idea in which country I’ll be accepted and find secure shelter to live and work.”
About 5,000 migrants a day are passing through Macedonia, according to the European Union.
In the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean, the Italian coast guard said Saturday it had coordinated the rescue of 4,343 migrants from smugglers’ boats off the coast of Libya in just one day. Adding to the tally, a Norwegian vessel rescued another 335 people. The Greek coast guard said a 5-year-old girl found in the sea off the island of Lesbos died after her boat sank. Fourteen others are missing.
Hungary’s decision to close the border with Serbia is forcing migrants, and smugglers, to plot entirely new routes. The first choice for many was to head west through Croatia to Slovenia, but the Slovenian government closed its border and stationed riot police to block some bridges. That left hundreds in limbo and led others to cross into Hungary from Croatia.
Pain and uncertainty drained away from the face of Adeeb Jaafri, a theater student from Damascus, as he arrived Saturday in Heiligenkreuz im Lafnitztal in Austria.
“Right now, I feel like I’ve been born anew. Now I don’t even see these long queues in front of me,” he said, pointing to scrums to board buses. “It makes no difference to me whether I am delayed, whether I stay here two days. The important thing is that I’ve finally arrived. And that I am now finally safe.”
Others raised their arms in joy as they crossed the border, a milestone in their epic journey to safety.
But for many, the chaos and uncertainty continues. Some families were separated as they fought for space on buses. Others were not allowed across.
On the Hungarian side of the border with Austria, Hala Khatib of Damascus and her three daughters wept uncontrollably.
“I want to go to Germany. My husband is in Germany. I’ve come here all alone to this country. Please let me go,” she sobbed. “I am exhausted. Me and my children, we’re exhausted.”
Many waited as long as 12 hours to be allowed forward.
At border spots in half a dozen countries, thousands set up camp with no food or water or slept on the streets.
