A grave disease control situation has developed in countries issuing migrants in the largest numbers and on migration routes, the Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister said on Wednesday morning on the public service television news channel M1.

György Bakondi said Iran – one of the countries issuing migrants in the largest numbers – is gravely affected by the coronavirus epidemic; migrants setting out from Afghanistan and Pakistan travel through this country on their way to Turkey, and from there on to the Balkans route.

Due to the threat of the epidemic, the countries lying on the Balkans route have closed down their borders, and as a result, the number of illegal entries has fallen significantly. At the same time, the illegal immigrants already on their territories are being taken to sealed camps, Mr Bakondi added.

He also said migration has almost ceased on the Mediterranean in the directions of Spain and Italy, while from the Greek-Turkish border the Turkish authorities have removed migrants. At the same time, a grave situation has developed on the Greek islands as almost 42,000 people have amassed there.

This year to date, the authorities have prevented some 9,000 prohibited border-crossing attempts. The number of migrants attempting to enter the country has decreased recently. Daily attempts have fallen from 100 to 200 earlier to 8, 10 to 20, Mr Bakondi said.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)