US ambassador visits migrant transit zone at Serbia border

Budapest, July (MTI) – US Ambassador in Hungary Colleen Bell and US Ambassador in Serbia Kyle Scott visited a migrant transit zone in Röszke, in southern Hungary, on Thursday and they were shown the facility and local procedures by the regional director of the migration office.

József Seres told the ambassadors that asylum-seekers and their belongings must pass through security checks upon entry and their personal data is checked to see if it appears in any database as persons wanted by the authorities.

Individuals who belong to vulnerable groups, such as families with small children, unaccompanied minors, ill and the elderly and people living with disabilities are transported to a reception centre inside the country and their procedures are carried out there. Of the 5,900 people who sought asylum this year, some 90 percent belonged in this category, Seres said.

Asylum requests by single men are processed in the transit zone and they get legal help. These people spend up to four weeks in the transit zone, where they get food and accommodation, but they are free to leave and return to Serbia at any point, Seres added.