Employees of German provincial television channels jumped to unfounded conclusions when they stated that the death of 71 migrants found in the back of a refrigerated truck near Parndorf, Austria on 27 August 2015 “could have probably been avoided” had the Hungarian authorities translated and evaluated the tapped conversations of the people smugglers who were transporting them in time.

In contrast to this claim, it must be declared that: the Hungarian authorities did not have any information in their possession based on which the tragedy could have been prevented or anticipated before it occurred.

The telephone conversation of the various members of the people smuggling ring in Serbian, Bulgarian and Pashtu were recorded by the authorities. For technical reasons, and in accordance with professional regulations, the conversations were not listened to, translated and evaluated parallel to being recorded. The recordings were transferred the investigating authority on 4 September 2015. The reporters of the German provincial television channels are aware of this fact, but have failed to mention it.

The victims of the crime, which later became a tragedy, did not come to an agreement on the terms and method of their transport in Hungary. The crime was not committed by Hungarian nationals. Based on information received from the Austrian partner organisations, the Hungarian authorities identified the people suspected of committing the crime and their place of residence within 12 hours of the tragedy being discovered, and immediately apprehended them. Without the competence and professional investigations of Hungarian police, it would have been impossible to arrest and charge the members of the criminal organisation.

Our thanks to Hungary’s police!

(Ministry of Interior)