Official: Each Day Nearly 500 Try to Cross Hungarian Border Illegally

  • 17 Aug 2023 9:37 AM
  • Hungary Matters
Official: Each Day Nearly 500 Try to Cross Hungarian Border Illegally
There are almost 500 border violations on the average weekday and even more at weekends, the prime minister’s chief domestic security adviser said.

György Bakondi told public television that the latest data show that 91,000 people tried to cross the border illegally this year and criminal proceedings were undertaken against 700 people smugglers who typically operated in large gangs.

He said that whereas armed violence on the Serbian side of the border had been confined to various migrant groups, a novel development was that a few days ago a local involved in community media in Hajdukovo (Hajdújárás) had been on the receiving end of a hand grenade attack.

Also, illegal migrant activity has increased on the Italian and Balkan routes, Bakondi said.

Meanwhile, in another interview, he told public radio that it would be dangerous to set up an open refugee camp with capacity of 20,000-30,000 near the border town of Röszke because this would risk accepting people involved in shootings on the other side of the border.

As already witnessed in Bicske and Debrecen in the past, having an open camp would pose extreme risks to Hungarian and European internal security, including social, health, educational and accommodation systems.

MTI Photo: Zsolt Szigetváry

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