Hungary threatens to close border to refugees

(Vatican Radio) The United Nations refugee agency has warned the growing number of migrants from the Middle, East seeking to go over land to Europe through the notorious Balkans route, face growing risks of deadly incidents on the train tracks they follow, as well as violence and abuse.

The announcement came while Hungary threatened to close its border with neighbouring Serbia in order to halt the influx of migrants, including many refugees. 

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told Kossuth Public Radio his nation must tackle “dangerous migration.” He said the government would consider “all options, including a complete physical closure of the border” with Serbia.

Orbán said his government would hear the interior minister’s recommendations on the issue next week. He made clear “it is not right” for the European Union to send refugees to Hungary and suggested instead a central EU-funded location, where refugees could stay, for instance outside the 28-nation bloc.

Hungary has received more than 50,000 asylum requests so far this year, compared with 43,000 in 2014 and just over 2,000 in 2012, according to official figures. About 70 per cent of the refugees now are from Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq. Among them many Christians, Vatican Radio learned.

STREETS CHANGING

If that trend continues, Orbán warned, “After three years, when we go out in the streets, we will not know whether we are in Paris, London or Budapest.”

The controversial debate comes at a time when the prime minister’s Fidesz Party is losing ground to the far-right, anti-immigration Jobbik Party.

Orbán has come under EU criticism over his anti-immigration campaign and a questionnaire sent some eight million voters on the issue. The questionnaire links migration with terrorism and asks citizens whether they agree with the government supporting Hungarian families instead of migrants.

Orbán said Friday that government-backed billboards with messages, such as “If you come to Hungary, you cannot take away Hungarians’ jobs,” were meant to deter human traffickers and economic migrants.

U.N. CONCERNED

His announcement underscored remarks by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which has warned migrants of the dangerous Balkans route, after several refugees died on train tracks and amid concerns over human trafficking.

The route from Greece through Macedonia and Serbia has soared in popularity over the past two years as an alternative to the dangerous sea crossing, from North Africa to Italy, where thousands have perished.

Many try to reach Hungary, as the first EU nation, though most move on to wealthier Western nations.

For those travelling through the Balkans, the situation is especially difficult in Macedonia where migrants and refugees follow rail tracks and mountain routes and are exposed to train accidents, storms and other natural elements, said UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards.

In April, some 14 undocumented migrants from Africa and Asia died after they were hit by an overnight passenger train on a narrow stretch of tracks, sandwiched between Macedonia's Vardar river and a steep slope near the town of Veles.