Migrants line up for the distribution of clothes at Keleti railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Aug. 21, 2015. AP
BUDAPEST, Hungary鈥擲cuffles broke out between migrants and police in Hungary on Wednesday as thousands were left stranded at Budapest鈥檚 main international train station, while the government called for clarification on Germany鈥檚 asylum regime.
As the number of migrants prevented from boarding trains to Austria and Germany swelled to over 2,000 at the Keleti station, according to an estimate from an AFP photographer, crowds chanted 鈥淣o police! No police!鈥� and 鈥淕ermany! Germany!鈥�
READ: Budapest train stations morph into makeshift refugee camps
On Wednesday afternoon, the protesters, angry at reports of police removing migrants from the station to unspecified locations, ran up to a police line and began shouting and throwing plastic bottles. Traffic was blocked for around 15 minutes.
The officers were quickly reinforced by riot police, who donned helmets and after a tense standoff pushed the protesters back to stop them blocking the road. No one appeared to have been hurt, and calm gradually returned by nightfall.
READ: Europe in new migrant standoff as figures show scale of crisis
The standoff was the latest and largest of several tense encounters between the crowds and police following Hungary鈥檚 decision to prevent migrants traveling west on Tuesday, after several thousand boarded trains bound for Austria and Germany the previous day.
Hungary鈥檚 government explained the U-turn by saying it was applying EU law after confusion caused by an easing of Germany鈥檚 asylum regulations and called on Berlin鈥檚 embassy to clarify the rules.
Sporadic fighting broke out between migrants on Wednesday, while taunts from a small group of far-right skinheads sparked some scuffles.
Earlier, tempers rose when the police suddenly moved in to clear a pathway in the 鈥渢ransit zone,鈥� a makeshift underground refugee camp where thousands have been sheltering on blankets in cramped conditions, looked after only by Hungarian volunteers.
鈥淢y friends got on a train on Monday! Why the hell don鈥檛 they let me go too, all of us?鈥� 41-year-old Syrian protestor Ohlit told AFP in front of the station, furiously brandishing his ticket to Munich that he purchased Monday.
鈥楩谤别别诲辞尘!鈥�
The EU鈥檚 so-called 鈥淒ublin鈥� rules oblige refugees to claim asylum in the first EU country they reach, but news that Germany had waived those rules for Syrians last week has sparked a surge in migrants trying to reach Europe鈥檚 largest economy.
The German embassy told AFP that 鈥淒ublin鈥� rules still apply, adding that 鈥渋t would be very helpful if the (Hungarian) authorities communicated directly what the situation is to the people at Keleti, who might think they are able to go.鈥�
But Hungary鈥檚 Prime Minister Viktor Orban鈥檚 chief of staff, Janos Lazar, said it was up to the embassy to 鈥渦nambiguously clarify鈥� Germany鈥檚 position on asylum-seeking.
鈥淲hat type of legal procedures should illegal migrants count on if they want to reach Germany? And what can they expect after,鈥� he said in a statement.
As well as the crowds at Keleti, several hundred migrants have been camping out at nearby John Paul II square, as well as another train station Nyugati (western) across the city.
Early Wednesday, police closed down part of a suburban train station in Budapest, and surrounded 100 migrants traveling from the southern border who refused to board a connecting train to a refugee camp in Debrecen.
Chanting, 鈥淕ermany! Germany!鈥� and 鈥淔reedom!鈥� the group held a sitdown protest still ongoing by late evening.
Later, around 4,000 people took part in a migrant solidarity march from Nyugati station to parliament organized by the volunteers providing aid at the train stations.
鈥淭he Hungarian government does nothing to welcome those people,鈥� one protestor told AFP.
鈥榃e鈥檙e staying here鈥�
Hungary has in recent months joined Italy and Greece as a 鈥渇rontline鈥� state in Europe鈥檚 migrant crisis, with 50,000 people trekking up the western Balkans and entering the country in August alone.
The right-wing government headed by Orban鈥攚ho was due for talks in Brussels on Thursday鈥攈as responded by erecting a controversial razor-wire barrier along its 175-kilometer (110-mile) border with Serbia.
In addition it is building a four-meter high fence, and on Thursday parliament was due to begin debating a series of new laws to deal with the influx, including greater police powers and using the army at the border.
However, Hungary鈥檚 razor-wire barrier is proving ineffective in keeping out the tens of thousands of people trekking up from Greece through the western Balkans, with Hungarian authorities saying that 2,284 crossed on Tuesday, including 353 children.
鈥淣ormal people, abnormal people, educated, uneducated, doctors, engineers, any people, we鈥檙e staying here. Until we go by train to Germany,鈥� said Mohammad, a Syrian protesting at the station earlier Wednesday.
Bilal, a fellow Syrian from the divided city of Aleppo, that there is an urgency to get into Europe.
鈥淲e fear that one day everything will change, that even Germany will close the border when it has had enough. So we must make our journey extremely fast,鈥� he told AFP on Tuesday near Serbia鈥檚 border with Hungary.