Hungary intends to close its borders to migrants

23-02-2015

epa04568396 (05/16) The head of the Roszke branch of the voluntary police organization of civil guards Istvan Turo (L) and civil guard Mihaly Bicskei inspect a zone of forest as they patrol the Hungarian-Serbian border looking for migrants near Roszke, south of Szeged, 170 km south of Budapest, Hungary, 09 January 2015. A group of migrants from Afghanistan live these days on the Serb side of the border Serbian-Hungarian border, near Subotica, Northern Serbia and wait for human smugglers to lead them across the border line into Hungary, an EU member state. Most of the migrants coming from Asia and Africa, escaping economic crisis, poverty or war, hope to reach their dreamlands, the rich western countries of the European Union to find better living conditions and the safety of life. As the Hungarian-Serbian border is identical with the border of the Schengen zone, Hungarian authorities patrol the frontier region permanently to prevent illegal migrants crossing the border. On a daily basis dozens of would-be immigrants are caught by border police and the voluntary organization of civil guards in a narrow border region south of Szeged, 170 km south of Budapest, Hungary.  EPA/SZILARD KOSZTICSAK HUNGARY OUT ; PLEASE REFER TO ADVISORY NOTICE (epa04568391) FOR FULL FEATURE TEXT“Hungary does not need any economic migrants and it has not to become a target country for them”, – it was stated by the State Secretary of Ministry of Interior Karoy Kontrat, calling to national consensus on this issue.

Addressing to the Parliament at the hearings on this issue initiated by the ruling Party “Fides”, Kontrat marked that Hungary could not take such a burden. He stated that increase in the number of illegal migrants for the last years.
Kontrat reports that part of them are not the real refugees, as they arrive from the countries, where there is no any war and they do not expose to any pursuit.

Currently, Hungary is a transit country for migrants, however, soon it may become the principal target if no effective decision will be made to regulate the wave of the refugees from Kosovo.

Kontrat provided with the data concerning the detention of 30 436 illegal migrants by Hungary Police since the beginning of the year, 25468 of them arrived from Kosovo.

In the year 2014, the half number of persons seeking asylum, 21 000 persons were from Kosovo and 20% (more than 8700) – the citizens of Afghanistan. The majority of the migrants arrive from the crisis zones such as Syria and Somalia.

Kontrat regards that EU shall adopt strict measures concerning immigration policy, asserting that the present rules “are weak and they may be abused”.

In 2014 Hungary spent 2.6 billion forints for foreigners’ registration (in 2012 – 1.1 billion forint).

Source: http://www.ua-reporter.com/novosti/165325