Hungary has introduced tough new laws to stop refugees crossing into the country via “green borders,” claiming it was necessary to control the influx. Passport checks have now been reintroduced into Austria and Slovakia.
Tough new border laws and powers to expel asylum seekers came into force at midnight, as Hungary’s right-wing government used a cargo wagon covered with razor wire to close the main informal crossing point for refugees, DW reported.
Hungary has said it will no longer tolerate people entering the country without passing through official checkpoints, after the country completed a 175-kilometer, 3.5-meter high fence along its southern border with Serbia.
Those entering the country in a way deemed illegal by the Hungarian government face imprisonment or deportation.
Speaking early Tuesday, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said Hungary would introduce new regulations from midnight onwards. He stressed that it did not mean the country was closing its doors on all refugees.
“We are going to close the green borders, the natural borders to stop illegal border crossings. That also means that the official and legal ways to come to Hungary, and therefore to the European Union, remain open. That’s all we ask from all migrants–that they should comply with international and European law and, say the Schengen protocols, and they should come to the legal crossing points.”
