Hungary's new clampdown on migrants

Contentious laws come into effect in Hungary on Tuesday that populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban hopes will stem the flow of thousands of migrants entering the EU country every day.

Here is a rundown of the new laws, why they are being introduced, whether they will work and what else Orban's government plans to do.

- What are the new laws? -

New legislation was rushed through parliament on September 4 making "illegal border-crossing" a crime rather than an infringement.

"Unlawful crossing" of a four-metre-high (12-foot) fence under construction and a razor wire barrier already in place can warrant three years in prison.

Damaging the barriers will result in a five-year jail term, and obstructing their construction one year.

"From September 15, the rules are changing in Hungary," Orban said last week.

"If you cross the border illegally, you will be immediately arrested by the authorities, the authorities will have no choice."

Those caught will be taken to guarded detention camps where their cases will be heard in fast-track special courts.

- Why is Hungary doing this? -

The laws are Hungary's latest bid -- after anti-migrant propaganda poster campaigns and the construction of the border barriers -- to stem the inflow of migrants.
Around 200,000 refugees and migrants, mostly Syrians, Afghans and Pakistanis, have entered the country this year after travelling up from Greece through the western Balkans, bound for western Europe.

Hungary has been sharply criticised for its treatment of the migrants but Orban is unrepentant, blaming Greece for not applying Schengen Zone regulations and Germany for easing asylum rules for Syrians.

Orban also says that mostly the new arrivals are not refugees but economic migrants since they came from camps on Syria's borders.

Europe's leaders are "living in a dream world" with "no clue" about the dangers and scale of the problem, he said Friday, warning that Muslims will be in the majority in Europe "in the forseeable future".

- Will it work? -

The government acknowledges the barrier and new laws will not immediately stop migrants trying to enter Hungary but it expects a significant reduction.
Migrants and people-smugglers will look to alternative routes bypassing Hungary altogether, government officials have said.

Croatia and Slovenia, or entering Hungary from Croatia rather than Serbia, or from Romania to a lesser extent, are the most likely alternatives.

"As long as they don't find alternative routes, people-smugglers will still try the Hungarian route, at least for an initial period, to see what happens in practice," said Tamas Lanczi of the Szazadveg think-tank.

- What else does Orban plan? -

On Monday Hungarian police also closed off a 40-metre gap in the razor wire barrier where there is a railway line, which has been a major crossing point for the migrants.
More than 2,000 extra police are being deployed through September at the frontier within special "border-hunter" patrol units, including helicopters and dogs.

Around 900 new police recruits were sworn in Monday by Orban in Budapest for border patrol duties.

Police in four counties in southern Hungary meanwhile were put on alert status Sunday, for deployment at the border within two hours.

So far over 4,000 military have been deployed at the border, mainly to complete the fence before an end-October deadline, although soldiers are already deployed at the frontier.

Next week, parliament is expected to approve the large-scale deployment of the army at the border, including the use of arms "in an emergency".

- What criticism is there? -

The UN refugee agency says that criminalising people for crossing the frontier illegally could be in violation of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

This states that no one shall be prosecuted for illegal entry if they have a refugee claim -- as opposed to seeking a better life for economic reasons.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said that the fence "did not respect Europe's common values," while Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann likened Hungary's treatment of migrants to the Third Reich.
Source: AFP