Pressure on Hungarian-Serbian border increases every month

György Bakondi, Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister told Hungarian news agency MTI that the number of those attempting to cross the 175-kilometre-long border section between Hungary and Serbia illegally increases every month.

By returning migrants apprehended within eight kilometres from Hungary’s borders to the transit zones, the legislator applies an effective method in order to handle this situation and still ensure refugees the right to receive protection. The relevant amendment will enter into force on Tuesday.

Mr. Bakondi added that the same method was applied in the case of migrants apprehended in Austria: the aim of this measure is to ensure that no one stays in Hungary illegally.

The Chief Security Advisor also said that this year 17,489 people have been apprehended for crossing the border illegally in an aggressive manner, and some 5,000 criminal proceedings have been launched. He added that asylum requests are being evaluated within 72 hours, in the case of young men, which constitutes the majority of the cases – the request is being evaluated based on national security, criminal and public health checks – and the decision on granting protection is made on the spot.

Speaking about the fight that erupted on Friday in the Children’s Home in Fót, he said it was only upon the arrival of police forces that the approximately 20 young men of Afghani and Pakistani origins stopped fighting. Three of them suffered injuries that would heal within eight days.