Hungary border fence proving futile in slowing migrant flow

Once across, the Hungarian police shepherd them toward a roadside meeting point beside the maize fields, where buses roll up to take them to a nearby registration centre, on the next short leg of their tortuous road north.

Hungary is exacerbating the problem of people-smuggling with its plan to build a barrier to restrict the flow of migrants and refugees into the country, the worldwide Organization for Migration said on Friday.

Migrants walk at the railway crossing at the border between Hungary and Serbia near Roszke, 180 kms southeast from Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Aug.26, 2015.

The reinforcements, called “border hunters”, will patrol the length of the frontier, supporting the more than 1,000 regular police already working around the clock to intercept illegal immigrants, Papp said.

None of the refugees who spoke to AFP said they wanted to stay in Hungary despite it being in the European Union.

Some 1,302 migrants had been detained at the southern border with Serbia by 7.30am, according to police.

“We left because we were scared, we had fear, bombs, war, killing, death…

It’s better to walk across half of Europe than to stay in Syria”. Police said 2,533 migrants were detained Tuesday, up from 2,093 Monday, with the numbers setting records almost every day.

In Germany, which expects to receive 800,000 asylum-seekers this year, Chancellor Angela Merkel was due in the eastern town of Heidenau, near Dresden, the scene of violent clashes over the weekend involving far-right militants protesting against the arrival of around 250 refugees, underscoring the social tensions unleashed by the influx.

The United Nations refugee agency said that while it understands the difficulties facing countries that are now playing host to thousands of extra residents, governments must “implement border management measures with humanity and in accordance with their worldwide obligations”.

A summit of western Balkans leaders plus Ms Merkel will take place in Vienna on Thursday and talks are set to be dominated by the crisis. Merkel urged Germans to stand up against hatred and vowed zero tolerance for attacks against refugees.

The migrant flow, which was initially hit Italy the hardest as people made the risky journey across the Mediterranean Sea, has spread to the continent, as people seek alternative routes to countries they believe will be friendlier toward asylum seekers.

Many Balkan countries have found themselves in the middle of a migrant crisis as people flee violence in the Middle East and Africa as others worry the migrant route to the European Union may switch following Hungary’s increased border security.

Up to now the Hungarian border fence – which is being swiftly constructed to maintain the migrants out – consists of three layers of razor wire alongside the nation’s 174-kilometer (109-mile) border with Serbia.

Once in Hungary, the refugees register with authorities and officially claim asylum. Most want to travel onto western European countries such as Germany and Sweden. Over 10,000 migrants have passed through Serbia the last two days, heading for Hungary. The migrants do not need to undergo the asylum course of in financially struggling Hungary.