Orbán cabinet: Illegal entry attempts exceed 200,000 this year

The Hungarian authorities have apprehended 201,486 illegal migrants at the country’s border since the start of the year, the prime minister’s chief security advisor told MTI on Monday.

Commenting on fresh data released by the government, György Bakondi noted a “dynamic” increase to 194,040 during the period of January and October 5 from 121,956 recorded for the whole year of 2021.

The figures show that the current wave of migrants can be likened to the one in 2015, affecting not only the Hungarian-Serbian border but the entire route running through the Balkans, Bakondi said. “Many are arriving in Turkey from Iran and Syria while many set off in the direction of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia,” he added.

The chief security advisor called people smuggling “a very dangerous branch of organised crime”. He noted that the Hungarian authorities detained 1,497 people smugglers in Jan-Oct this year, up from 886 during the same period in 2021.

Bakondi said that refugees fleeing the war are also arriving in large numbers at Hungary’s border crossings with Ukraine and Romania which he said was putting increased pressure on Hungarian authorities and the civil aid organisations. He noted that so far 948,038 refugees have received various forms of support including accommodation, hospital care, food supplies and arrangements in travelling further.

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