Hungary is ready to release thousands of prisoners held for human trafficking, provided they leave the country within 72 hours. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s decision has caused concern in Austria, and now Vienna is tightening border controls, fearing that many of these criminals may try to enter the country. The German newspaper Spiegel writes that immigrant smugglers are expected to leave the country by the middle of the week.
The Hungarian government had announced the release of thousands of detainees previously arrested for human trafficking, citing overcrowding problems in the country’s prisons. Now he wanted to be clearer: The only condition for liberation is that they leave Hungary within three days. The Ministry of the Interior in Vienna, for its part, tried to respond promptly with concrete measures, supporting the urgency of greater control over incoming movements, emphasizing that these are criminals who endanger human life.
According to the statements made in Vienna yesterday, all vehicles coming from Hungary, Romania and Serbia will undergo more rigorous and intensive inspections during the week. Hungary is historically the main Balkan route of irregular migration to Austria, and human trafficking has always been a thriving (illegal) business. In the case of prisoners in Hungarian prisons, these are not only local traffickers, but also Syrian, Afghan, Ukrainian and Romanian smugglers.
In 2021 Hungary recorded the highest incarceration rate of any EU country: 191 prisoners per 100,000 people; this is one of the highest figures, together with those in Poland, according to the latest official figures Eurostat has been able to provide. The EU average is certainly lower with 104 arrests per 100,000 people.
Minister Gergely Gulyás responded to critics of the government decree that would have allowed the release of thousands of foreign smugglers, arguing that prisons were overcrowded. A rationale partially supported by the report of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (one of the non-profit human rights organizations that exist in several European countries), according to which there have never been so many people in prison in the last 33 years. .
Last month, Vienna registered a total of around 3,500 new asylum applications, a third less than a year ago. The Ministry of Interior attributed this result to better monitoring of smuggling routes, as well as closer cooperation with countries of origin and transit. However, with smugglers from Hungary, Austria is testing police cooperation with Budapest.
Source: Today IT

Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.