After several days of a long and exhausting journey, the first war refugees arrived in Budapest. Numerous organizations and many volunteers are waiting for them at the train stations.Continue reading
Some 104,000 people have arrived in Hungary from Ukraine so far, with the number of those directly fleeing war estimated at 80,000, the prime minister’s chief security advisor told news channel M1 on Wednesday.
Hungary has received the largest number of refugees after Poland, Gyorgy Bakondi said. Besides providing for those arriving in the country, Hungary is also sending “unprecedented amounts of food and fuel” to Transcarpathia, the western Ukrainian region with a sizeable ethnic Hungarian population, he said.
The UN is projecting some 250,000 refugees arriving to Hungary before the end of the war, he said.
Bakondi said the difference between refugees and migrants was “clearly visible”. “The former arrive fleeing real danger, with documents and cooperate with the authorities, looking for temporary protection. The latter’s identity and citizenship are unknown, and so is their motive in trying to enter Hungary illegally, with the help of people smugglers,” he said.
Featured photo by Zsolt Czeglédi/MTI
