Destination Europe: Row Brewing Over Human Tide

The ordeal is undeniable. On a daily basis now all of Europe's population is being made aware of small children, with nothing more than a parent's tired hand for comfort, marching thought the night in a Serbian forest, or clinging to the small space in a crowded boat in the open sea.

The people we meet are subdued, dehydrated and exhausted.

When we speak to them many quickly move close to tears as they retell the stories they have told so many times before - to anyone who will listen, and who might, by some long shot, be able to help.

They are often confused about their options and anyone who has ever walked 20 miles knows they do not carry much with them.

That is the human story - and by any standards of suffering it is a harrowing one.

The row that is building though, and like it or not it is building, is about the cause and effect of this new population crisis that is inexorably forcing itself into the European way of life.

The European Union has long shared agreed protocols in governing the asylum process.

But those were written for a different time.

In 2012, Hungary logged a total of 5,000 refugees either for asylum or for processing deeper into the continent.

On Wednesday, police detained more than 3,200 in one day alone - the highest daily figure so far.

The row I mentioned will be over how long this is expected to continue.

The Hungarian answer is instant and without doubts; for the foreseeable long-term future.

The country has spent £73m erecting a razor wire fence across its border with Serbia and this is due to be completed by 31 August.

It is also considering using the army to slow the movement of migrants.

The displaced people of the 21st century are plugged in.

After water, the first things they want are SIM cards, Wi-Fi, and somewhere to charge a phone.

Almost everyone we meet is acting on intelligence offered by someone who has already made the journey.

The debate that will precede this row will be about migrants and refugees.

There are those now ready to argue that anyone fleeing a violent conflict must be accommodated, whilst those simply seizing the opportunity to build a better life in the West should not.

Existing asylum protocols already understand this.

The problem is the scale has changed, and in countries like Greece, Macedonia, Hungary and soon Germany, the mindset is changing with it.

How do you process hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of people, each with his or her own backstory, circumstance or nationality?

Why do we hear stories of people in Hungary without documents claiming to be Syrian?

And how do you turn back a family that has travelled for weeks through the countryside, at great risk, circumventing frontiers and registration in order to survive and continue?

The Macedonians and now the Hungarians are experimenting with trying to close borders.

But like any tide, this persistent wave of humanity will find a way.

Already in Budapest the talk is of border-hunter patrols, dogs, horse and helicopters all to be deployed during September.

So the beleaguered border states are getting vocal.

They want the rest of Europe to wake up, do the maths, and have that row now before it is too late.