by Isabelle Roussel and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Budapest
21 minutes ago
Austria says it has agreed with Germany to let the arrivals cross their borders.
It comes as European Union states are struggling to agree on how to deal with an unprecedented surge in migrants.
Buses began arriving at Keleti station, central Budapest, late on Friday, which has become a makeshift camp for thousands of migrants.
Vehicles were also sent to collect hundreds who broke away from the camp to walk on foot along the main road to Austria.
When the buses arrived to collect them, some of the migrants argued with officials, fearful they would be arrested rather than sent to Germany, the BBC's Matthew Price reported.
But later, small groups began crossing the border, with some Austrians putting up welcome signs.
Image copyright
Getty Images
Image caption
The transport arrived late on Friday evening in central Budapest
Image copyright
Reuters
Image caption
Others came to pick up hundreds waiting on the main road to Austria
Austrian
Red Cross workers at a makeshift centre greeted them with blankets and
tea. Austrian police said up to 3,000 migrants were expected to arrive
in the coming hours.
"I feel [at] home," said Ayaz Morad, one of the first to arrive. "This is a great land - nice people, nice government."
Mohammad, a Syrian refugee, said he was happy to leave but warned other Syrians against travelling to Hungary because the situation there was "ugly".
Image copyright
Reuters
They crossed into Austria on foot - the Hungarian
buses stopped before reaching the border and they had to walk the final
stretch.
There were children and at least one man in a wheelchair.
They were exhausted. Some of them were limping, but many were smiling broadly - relieved to have finally left Hungary.
"Where are we?" one man shouted. "Austria," I replied. "Good," he said.
Many of the migrants hope to travel on to Germany, which has said it expects to take in 800,000 people this year.
The Hungarian government said it had despatched the buses so that the country's transport network would not become "paralysed".
Austria's Chancellor Werner Faymann said that after talks with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, the two countries would allow in the migrants due to the "emergency situation" in Hungary.
But he said he expected Hungary to respect any EU quotas for asylum seekers - something Hungary, along with the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, has rejected.
Media caption Matthew Price has been travelling with some of the families and sharing video on social media
Image copyright
Reuters
Image caption
Many of those travelling aim to reach Germany
Image copyright
@BethanyBellBB
Image caption
The Red Cross prepared for arrivals at the Hungarian-Austrian border
Hungary has become a major transit nation for people
fleeing the Middle East and Africa who are seeking to reach north and
west Europe.
The Hungarian parliament on Friday approved tougher border controls and penalties for migrants, underlining divisions within the EU on how to tackle the crisis.
Hungary's Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has said the surge in arrivals was "Germany's problem", since that was where most people wanted to go.
But Chancellor Merkel has called for refugees to be fairly divided among EU members.
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21 minutes ago
Migrants are arriving in Austria after Hungary's surprise move to provide buses for them.
For
days, Hungary had blocked migrants from travelling by train to Western
Europe, saying it was obliged to register them, sparking angry scenes.Austria says it has agreed with Germany to let the arrivals cross their borders.
It comes as European Union states are struggling to agree on how to deal with an unprecedented surge in migrants.
Buses began arriving at Keleti station, central Budapest, late on Friday, which has become a makeshift camp for thousands of migrants.
Vehicles were also sent to collect hundreds who broke away from the camp to walk on foot along the main road to Austria.
When the buses arrived to collect them, some of the migrants argued with officials, fearful they would be arrested rather than sent to Germany, the BBC's Matthew Price reported.
But later, small groups began crossing the border, with some Austrians putting up welcome signs.
"I feel [at] home," said Ayaz Morad, one of the first to arrive. "This is a great land - nice people, nice government."
Mohammad, a Syrian refugee, said he was happy to leave but warned other Syrians against travelling to Hungary because the situation there was "ugly".
'Exhausted, but smiling': Bethany Bell, BBC News, Austrian-Hungarian border
There were children and at least one man in a wheelchair.
They were exhausted. Some of them were limping, but many were smiling broadly - relieved to have finally left Hungary.
"Where are we?" one man shouted. "Austria," I replied. "Good," he said.
Many of the migrants hope to travel on to Germany, which has said it expects to take in 800,000 people this year.
The Hungarian government said it had despatched the buses so that the country's transport network would not become "paralysed".
Austria's Chancellor Werner Faymann said that after talks with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, the two countries would allow in the migrants due to the "emergency situation" in Hungary.
But he said he expected Hungary to respect any EU quotas for asylum seekers - something Hungary, along with the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, has rejected.
The Hungarian parliament on Friday approved tougher border controls and penalties for migrants, underlining divisions within the EU on how to tackle the crisis.
Hungary's Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has said the surge in arrivals was "Germany's problem", since that was where most people wanted to go.
But Chancellor Merkel has called for refugees to be fairly divided among EU members.
At the scene: Matthew Price, BBC News
Our correspondent has been walking with hundreds of migrants who attempted to travel on foot to Austria.-
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