Ten thousand border violators caught by civil guards in Hungary

The government has appealed to civil guards to continue protecting the border until year-end, with the promise of further reimbursement, a government official said on Sunday.

In February, the government asked civil guards help protect the southern border, for which they have received payment, Zsolt Nyitrai, the prime ministerial commissioner in charge of social policy, said in a video uploaded to Facebook.

Out of 65,000 civil guards who normally maintain public safety in localities voluntarily, more than 11,000 have contributed to border protection in the past five months, and they are being asked to carry on doing so until the end of the year against continued payment for their services.

“We thank civil guards for helping in the serious and responsible task of policing the border, and soon they will be joined by special border patrollers,” Nyitrai said.

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András Túrós, president of the National Civil Guard Association, noted that the civil guard is the only non-governmental organisation participating in border protection.

In the past few months, 11,000 civil guards have completed 110,000 hours of service, helping to capture more than 10,000 border violators, he said, adding that they reported 20 cases of human trafficking to the authorities.

He said the “enhanced border protection service” will carry on performing their duties from Sept. 12 following the government’s request and with the unanimous agreement of civil guard leaders.

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Source: MTI