Refugee crisis in Hungary

‘Goodbye Europe!’

Published on 24 June 2015 at 13:32

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The Hungarian government said on 23 June that it had indefinitely suspended the European agreement on asylum, the Dublin regulation on transfers, for “technical reasons”. Under the regulation, each EU country is responsible for taking back those asylum-seekers who first entered the EU through its territory and who have been turned back from other member states.

The Interior Ministry said that Hungary is the country most burdened by illegal immigration out of the member states concerned (Italy and Greece above all) and added that his country has exhausted its capacity. As of June 22 this year, Hungarian police have detained 60,620 migrants, including 60,089 along the Serbian section of the border, where a 175-kilometer long fence is to be build.

Although Hungary is currently hosting more than its fair share of refugees, it is unclear whether Budapest will be able to implement its decision, notes Népszabadság, or whether it will receive any help from fellow EU countries, since “the regulation clearly states it cannot be suspended” and “last year only 827 people were sent back to Hungary from other member states”.

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