ROSZKE (Sputnik) — A small Hungarian town of Roszke on the border with Serbia has seen a military build-up overnight, a RIA Novosti correspondent at the scene reported early Sunday.
Roszke, #Hungary: We will keep a close eye on the fence at train track opening. Poles were up, nets lying on ground pic.twitter.com/nSzSQ4ZBoE
— Babar Baloch (@BabarBloch) 13 сентября 2015
This comes two days before tougher immigration laws come into effect. A package of emergency regulations, passed by the Hungarian parliament last week, will punish illegal border crossings with jail terms or deportation. The measure aims at reducing the huge flow of undocumented migrants that seek to reach Western Europe.
Refugees at #Roszke are held in filthy, overcrowded conditions, hungry, lacking medical care https://t.co/GwStr6EVlg pic.twitter.com/8hAKQ9MAZl
— Wenzel Michalski (@WenzelMichalski) 13 сентября 2015
A temporary refugee camp has been set up near Roszke to process the incoming migrants and refugees, most of them from war-torn Syria. Local reports indicate that asylum seekers have been fleeing the registration site in hundreds as they push north to reach the border with Austria.
#Photo | The last few migrants are transported to a refugee camp at dawn; Roszke, Hungary (Dan Kitwood/Getty) pic.twitter.com/INGqQVlVHW
— Amy Feldtmann (@AmyFeldtmann) 13 сентября 2015
Thousands more are on the move in Greece, Macedonia and Serbia as they rush to cross the border before it is put on lockdown.
Europe has been beset by a refugee crisis, with thousands arriving in EU member states in search of safety. Many of them use Hungary as a transit point on their journey to wealthier EU states where they intend to apply for asylum.
Budapest estimates that some 172,000 refugees and migrants have entered the country since the beginning of 2015. On September 22, the Hungarian parliament is to debate handing over border controls to the army.
