In Pictures

Refugees caught between hope and harsh laws in Europe

Hungary has declared a state of emergency, leaving thousands stranded on its border with Serbia.

Hungary has closed its main border crossing with Serbia [Matthias Schrader/AP]

16 Sep 2015

Hungary has closed its main crossing with Serbia and more states have imposed border checks as the continent’s ongoing refugee crisis continues.

Thousand of refugees have been stranded on the Hungarian border.

Hungary is on the front line of Europe’s refugee crisis, with almost 200,000 people travelling from Greece through the western Balkans and entering the country this year, most of them seeking to continue their journey to Germany.

Hungary used a boxcar fitted with razor wire to block a major entry point [Koca Sulejmanovic/EPA]

Refugees hold a sign reading: ''Thank You Serbia'' as they gather at a closed border crossing between Serbia and Hungary [Balazs Mohai hungary Out/ EPA]

Hungary''s right-wing government took matters into its own hands to halt Europe''s unprecedented influx of refugees while the bloc failed to agree a plan to distribute them [Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

A refugee holds a sign reading "Mama Merkel help us" in front of a barrier at the border with Hungary near the village of Horgos, Serbia [Marko Djurica/Reuters]

Refugees entering Hungary now face deportation and jail terms as EU ministers fail to agree on a common crisis strategy [Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

Hundreds of refugees pressed against a barrier erected by Hungarian police across a main highway linking Serbia and Hungary on Tuesday [Marko Djurica/Reuters]

Hungary is set to introduce harsher border-control laws that would send smugglers to prison and deport refugees who cut under its new razor-wire border fence [Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

Declaring a state of emergency paves the way for parliament to allow the army to reinforce police along the border, as new measures to crack down on refugees go into effect [Matthias Schrader/AP]

Hungary has sealed the last gap in the barricade along its border with Serbia, closing passage to thousands of refugees waiting on the other side [Darko Dozet/EPA]