Hungary’s government: Migrant influx set to increase in 2016
Budapest, January 12 (MTI) – It is not likely that the influx of migrants into Europe will ease in 2016, with the continent probably receiving more migrants in the year ahead, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said in a discussion with Gyorgy Bakondi, the prime minister’s chief domestic security advisor, on illegal migration on Tuesday.
Bakondi said neither bad weather nor the European Union’s deal with Turkey to help cut the flow of migrants in exchange for EU money has deterred migrants from making the journey to Europe, with thousands of people arriving on the continent on a daily basis.
They noted that Germany’s development minister, Gerd Mueller, said recently that Europe can expect “8 to 10 million” more migrants in the future. Bakondi noted that estimates from Germany’s police force and secret service indicate that for every thousand migrants who arrived in Europe, one trained terrorist could also have made their way in. This would mean that more than 1,000 terrorists managed to sneak into Germany last year.
Bakondi said Europe has still not implemented the most important step to prevent terrorism, which he said was stopping the influx of illegal migrants altogether on its border. Once this preventive measure is put in place, Europe can begin admitting people whose identities and origins are known. He said last November’s terrorist attacks in Paris made it clear that organised terrorism is present in Europe, meaning that the fight against terrorism will remain a key issue in 2016.
Kovacs, referring to the mass attacks on women in Cologne and other German cities on New Year’s Eve, said the incidents could indicate a new form of coordinated attacks for which police and intelligence agencies must be on the lookout in the future.
On the subject of an article which appeared in The New York Times claiming that a Syrian refugee woman was “beaten unconscious in a Hungarian prison” by a guard “after refusing his advances”, Kovacs said the writer of the article was “unaware” of the facts when it comes to criminal procedures against migrants who cross Hungary’s border illegally. He said illegal entrants are held in camps and not prison, adding that criminals convicted in a court of law, such as convicted people smugglers, are the ones who are imprisoned.
Kovacs said that if The New York Times fails to issue a correction for the article or allow the Hungarian government to “respond to the accusation”, the government will take legal action against the paper.
The spokesman said the government is “concerned” that the EU is using procedures against Poland as “political tools” which he said “should be reserved for entirely different cases”. He said the rule of law procedure initiated against Poland are “reminiscent of the procedures launched against Hungary earlier”. Kovacs said Hungary “will not assist in” any procedures against Poland.
Photo: MTI
Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters