Blocked migrants start hunger strike

HORGOS, Serbia — Migrants protesting Europe’s closed borders say they have begun a hunger strike to press their message to European leaders.

About 100 men and boys, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, have been protesting Europe’s migrant policies for several days. Last weekend, they staged a march to Serbia’s border with EU-member Hungary, where they stopped in a dusty field near the boundary, without any facilities and accepting only water from humanitarian groups.

They said Wednesday that no one seems to care. Holding banners reading “Your Silence is Hurting Us” and “We Were All Born Free,” the migrants were carrying on with their protest calmly in small groups, some with blankets or towels on their heads to protect them from the scorching sun. Their eyes blurred from the heat, some migrants collapsed, as others rushed to their aid.

“The situation is turning from bad to worse,” said Roohul Amin Afridi, 33, from Afghanistan, one of the protest leaders. “We have been on hunger strike for the past four days.”

As a Serbian ambulance arrived at the scene, Afridi said that several men had collapsed already and that they had been taken to an area hospital.

Hungary has tightened immigration rules, letting in only up to 30 migrants a day, mostly families with small children, and pushing back those caught trying to cross illegally. Hundreds of migrants are already staying in makeshift camps along the Serbia-Hungary border.