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The average daily number of border violations is close to five hundred, but on weekends even more people try to enter Hungary illegally, the Prime Minister’s chief advisor on internal security told public television channel M1, reports Hirado.hu. György Bakondi pointed out that this year 91,000 border crossers have been apprehended and 700 people smugglers have been prosecuted. The organization of people smugglers is still evident and large groups of offences are common, he added.
He described as a new and dangerous situation the fact that, while earlier on the Serbian side of the southern border different groups of migrants only used their weapons against each other, a few days ago in Hajdújárás (Hajdukovo, Serbia) a hand grenade attack was carried out against a family house. According to news portal Szabad Magyar Szó,
the house belongs to a young family, and the owner, who asked not to be named, said that the attack was aimed at him because he is the one in the village who speaks out against illegal migration the most fervently, posting his opinion on social media as well.
György Bakondi reminded that migrant activity is also increasing on the Italian and Balkan routes. While the EU is debating the legalization of entry, countries that do not identify with this idea are under political attack. Moreover, the EU migrant distribution plan could be seen as an invitation to those from Asia and Africa who are planning to leave.
The seriousness of the problem of people smuggling from Hungary is also illustrated by a recent news story. The police announced on Thursday that a human trafficking network had been busted and the investigation had been completed, but the Iraqi leader of the criminal organization is still on the run.
It was reported that members of the network smuggled illegal immigrants across the Hungarian-Serbian border, then drove them to Austria. This happened on at least 13 occasions in August 2021.
They assisted more than 150 illegal migrants and made a profit of more than 13 million forints (EUR 33,500). According to the police, the idea for the criminal organization was born in a Hungarian prison: the Iraqi man and his Hungarian cellmate planned in 2018 to continue transporting illegal migrants to Austria after their release, building a network together.
The head of the 16-member criminal organization was the Iraqi man, who controlled the network from abroad, while the Hungarian man was the boss in Hungary. The third-country nationals had to pay 500 euros each for their transport. Of this, the drivers received 50,000-100,000 forints (EUR 130-260) each, the rest was kept by the organizers.
Featured photo via police.hu
