“There is noticeably continuous and increasing migrating pressure along the Hungarian-Serbian border”, the Prime Minister’s Chief Advisor on Homeland Security György Bakondi stated.
Illegal attempts to cross the border, which cause damage to the border security fence, are typical, he told the press.
People trafficking has also increased; some of these cases do not involve attempts to cross the Hungarian border, but instead migrants are being transported from Macedonia to Serbia at a cost of around one thousand euros each”, he added.
Belgrade is seeing migrant levels of 250-300 migrants-a-day, he stated.
Mr. Bakondi also spoke about the fact that the European Union is concentrating on receiving, integration and distribution, i.e. compulsory resettlement. The development of the system whereby migrants could be kept at home is occurring at a much slower rate, border protection is not changing dynamically enough and the so-called repatriation system for people who wish to return home voluntarily has not yet solidified, he said.
Hungary, via sending police personnel, is currently involved in border protection activities in both Macedonia and Greece, he stated.
There are currently over 54 thousand migrants in Greece, with a further 20-60 arriving each day. 90 percent of people arriving at the shores of southern Italy set out from Libya; 2-3 thousand migrants-a-day are attempting to reach the shores of southern Italy, he said.
According to forecasts, some 450 thousand migrants are expected to arrive in Europe via this route, he indicated.
More than four thousand migrants have “disappeared” following the closing of the Idomeni refugee camp at the Macedonian border, Mr. Bakondi added. The typical migration route is bound for Serbia and ends at the Hungarian-Serbian border, he noted.
17,052 requests for asylum have been submitted in Hungary so far this year, he told the press. 4,102 of these were submitted in transit zones. There are currently two transit zones operating along the border with Serbia, where 230 people have received international protection. The Minister of Interior is planning to open another transit zone in the vicinity of Ásotthalom, he added.
Hungarian police arrested 1176 people traffickers last year and have detained 121 so far this year, the Chief Advisor said. The court has made expulsion rulings in 2698 cases for crimes relating to the temporary border security fence. 1667 of these people submitted requests for asylum at the Office of Immigration and Nationality and have been placed in open receiving stations, while 1031 of these illegal immigrants did not request asylum of whom 516 have been expelled so far.
Mr. Bakondi also mentioned that Austria, Germany and Finland have all tightened various regulations concerning the field of migration.
According to the table shown at the press conference the number of “violent illegal border crossing attempts” were 3300 in March and have now risen to 4200.