Hungarian authorities have taken action against 2,172 individuals who crossed into Hungarian territory illegally over the weekend, the National Police Headquarters informed news agency MTI on Monday.
According to the statistics on the National Police website, 895 foreign nationals illegally staying in Hungary were arrested and escorted back through the temporary security border on Friday, while authorities processed 795 on Saturday, and 481 on Sunday respectively.
In addition, one border crosser was apprehended in the heart of the country, against whom police proceedings were initiated.
In the past week, 4,777 border crossers were arrested and escorted back to the country from which they entered Hungary. In the previous week, Oct. 10-16, the number of apprehended people was 4,794. In addition, 17 border crossers were apprehended inside the country last week and subjected to immigration proceedings. A total of 40 suspects were charged with people smuggling, according to the police summary.
Posting about a Budapest meeting of experts from a global coalition against the Islamic State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó wrote on Facebook that Hungary will remain relentless in its fight against illegal immigration.
“For us, the most important fact is that terrorists always exploit illegal migration to enter Europe in an uncontrolled flood of people,” Szijjártó wrote. “This is why we are protecting the Hungarian border, this is why the fence is in place, and this is why we are stopping all illegal migrants,” he added.
