Hungary to put migrants in camps at border

The Hungarian parliament broadly approves new asylum rules that foresee placing all asylum seekers in camps.

The Hungarian parliament has approved measures to tighten border controls and put all migrants in camps along its border, the state news agency MTI reports.

MPs voted 138-6 in favour of the law, with 22 abstentions.

Under the new rules, all asylum seekers, both those who entered Hungary earlier and newcomers, are to be held in "transit zones."

Migrants whose applications are not immediately approved will not be allowed to move freely around Hungary but will be detained in the camps, Lajos Kosa, the parliamentary group leader of Orban's Fidesz party, said earlier last month .

Hungary has been a focal point of Europe's migration crisis, with hundreds of thousands passing through in 2015 in often chaotic scenes on the frontier with Serbia - the external border of the EU's passport-free Schengen area - and a Budapest rail terminus.

Hungary's decision to detain all asylum seekers and migrants in camps runs counter to international law and will further traumatise people who have fled violence, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says.

Adults and children will be forced to live in shipping containers surrounded by high razor wire fences, the UNHCR says.

"This new law violates Hungary's obligations under international and EU laws, and will have a terrible physical and psychological impact on women, children and men who have already greatly suffered," UNHCR spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly says.

Under international and EU laws, the detention of asylum seekers is only justified if there are no reasonable alternative measures that can be implemented, she says.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world