Refugees and Salzburg

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We had decided we would have one day in Salzburg while staying in Ebensee so figured it was sensible to go there with Irvahn who was returning to Zurich today via Salzburg. We could at least travel with her part of the way. On arriving in Salzburg we found that the train to Zurich was delayed firstly for 20 minutes then longer due to "technical problems". Irvahn duly got on the train which had now been split into two and sat and sat. We could see that something was happening far down the platform but weren't sure, what. After some time, we figured we should just say goodbye and go. We soon found out the issue. The train concerned had come from Budapest with a full load of refugees and off loaded them here. We found many police surrounding hundreds of people detained in the main train station. We think they had probably thought that Germany would take them (this had already been happening) but Germany can no longer cope with the numbers and has closed the borders and stopped all trains travelling in from other countries. The Red Cross had set up a large tent outside the train station, no doubt to water and feed them. Goodness knows where they will stay until they can be processed and sent to various places. It is totally chaotic and towns seem to be under seige by people wanting to move there.

Seeing it firstly in Budapest and now in Salzburg with my own eyes, I don't know what to think of the situation. It almost seems that the word has gone out to people left behind to "follow us" and this is happening. There seems to be the expectation that other countries will absorb them all somehow. I am only very, very glad that I live in New Zealand with a huge amount of water to cross to get there. We are so blessed in our country and long may it last.

That was the downside. On the upside, life seemed to continue in Salzburg outside of the station. Everyone went about their business, tourists abounded, cafe's boomed and all seemed quite normal. We walked down through the town and through the lovely colourful Mirabelle Gardens. We had some sushi for lunch then walked around the old town before returning back to the station for the trip back to Ebensee. Yes, we had to walk through the refugee crowd to get to the platform so it reinforced the situation again. Instead of sitting around waiting we got the first train coming along to Gmunden and took it. As it turned out it took much longer, stopping at many little stations along the way. Ebensee was a peaceful place to return to after that da

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Photos

A portion of the refugee crowd detained in the Salzburg station awaiting processing
These refugees had come from Budapest and were off loaded at Salzburg since Germany had suspended all trains coming into Germany which is where these people want to go. The border has been closed while Germany struggles to find a way to process so many people