Hungary’s government plans further border measures

Budapest, May 6 (MTI) – The Hungarian government is planning further security measures at and around the EU external border, state secretary at the Interior Ministry Károly Kontrát said on Friday.

The ministry will submit an amendment bill to parliament with the aim of ensuring that not a single migrant can stay illegally on Hungarian soil, he told a press conference. Accordingly, anyone stopped by police within 8km of the state border will placed in a transit zone unless they have committed a crime.

Here, they will be able to submit a request for asylum and can expect fast processing, the state secretary said. For these migrants, special border processing rules will apply and they will not be deported for staying illegally in Hungary.

Fully 99 percent of migrants are caught within 8km of the border, Kontrát said.

He said the amendment to the law on state borders, asylum and border entry and stays in Hungary by third-country nationals will be scheduled for a debate by lawmakers on May 17. He noted that the government had recently allocated another 9.3 billion forints (EUR 30m) for fortifying the border fence to the south.

Addressing the same press conference, government spokesman Zoltán Kovács said the Hungarian government is doing everything it can to prevent abuses of the law by migrants, despite the fact that even self-acclaimed human rights organisations on the Greek and other European borders are helping illegal migrants reach Europe.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters