In the first two months of 2020, the number of illegal border-crossing attempts increased intensively, the Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister informed the Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday.

György Bakondi said in January and February, the number of apprehended illegal migrants was around 7,100; 6,597 of them attempted to enter Hungary on the Serbian border section, while 536 via other border sections.

There are 321 persons in the transit zone, while criminal proceedings have been instituted against 86 persons due to people smuggling, he added.

For reference purposes, he pointed out that in the first few months of the year, at the Hungarian-Serbian border, in 2018 the authorities apprehended 1,315 persons, in 2019 1,534 migrants were detained, while in 2020 this number rose to 6,597.

At other border sections, in 2018 there were 94 arrests, in 2019 74, while in January and February 2020 the number of illegal border-crossing attempts rose to above 500. The most significant increase this year has been observed at the Hungarian-Romanian border: while earlier there were 12 and 33 attempts, respectively, in the first two months of this year, this number rose to 465.

Reviewing last year’s data, the chief security advisor said in 2019 the International Organization for Migration (IOM) registered 123,920 migrants; 100,659 of them arrived by sea, while 23,261 by land. Among the main entry points, there was a shift towards Greece. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) data, 11,471 persons registered in Italy, 32,479 in Spain and 74,613 in Greece.

He said, last year there was a 49 per cent decrease, compared with the year before, in the number of arrivals in Spain – after Spain concluded an agreement with Morocco in February 2019. However, the more lenient migration policy adopted after a change of government in Italy and the Malta agreement resulted in a rise in migration and intensifying people smuggling activities in the direction of Italy.

From September, NGOs took 1,076 immigrants to the shores of Italy, and some 8,500 people reached Italy in small boats. Due to the conflict in Libya, further refugees set out for Europe; already in December, there were 46,000 registered migrants in the vicinity of the shores, he said. According to Mr Bakondi, therefore, in 2020 we may expect intensifying pressure from the direction of Italy.

According to the data of UNHCR and IOM, at the end of 2019 there were 114,949 registered illegal immigrants in transit on the Balkans route, the chief security advisor stated. He added that in Turkey at the end of 2019 there were more than 3.5 million registered Syrian refugees, while by January the number of registered migrants in Greece had risen to above 78,500.

Mr Bakondi highlighted that in 2019 at the Hungarian border the number of illegal border-crossing attempts increased by 59 per cent compared with a year earlier; the authorities detained 13,576 persons.

According to his expectations, the pressure of migration on Vojvodina will intensify this year. He added that due to unsuccessful border-crossing attempts via the temporary security border fence, there is a risk that immigrants organised into larger groups may attempt to break into Hungary forcefully.

Regarding the migration crisis situation that has emerged in the wake of the opening of Turkey’s borders, he said while at the Turkish-Greek-Bulgarian triple border the Greek authorities have so far managed to stop the majority of migrants with the aid of tear gas grenades and concussion grenades, thousands are waiting on the Turkish side. In addition to them, hundreds have arrived at the Aegean Islands, and thousands more are waiting on the shores, he said.

Mr Bakondi also told MTI that on Friday Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had spoken to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the parties had initiated a meeting with the attendance of the V4 prime ministers and the Turkish president to discuss the management of the migration situation.

He highlighted that at the meeting of the Prime Minister’s security cabinet a decision had been adopted on the reinforcement of the police and military forces currently deployed at the border, while the security cabinet also decided on the indefinite suspension of the admission of illegal migrants to the transit zone.

(MTI)