Hungary builds new high-tech border fence - with few migrants in sight

By Marton Dunai

REUTERS

 

A Hungarian police and soldiers patrol the Hungary-Serbia border, which was recently fortified by a second fence, near the village of Gara, Hungary, March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh

 

GARA, Hungary (Reuters) - A daunting new barrier is beginning to loom over Hungary's southern border, capable of delivering electric shocks to unwanted migrants and armed with heat sensors, cameras, and loudspeakers that blare in several languages.

 

The country was a main crossing point for hundreds of thousands of people trekking into Europe at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015. A hastily-erected first razorwire fence and tough new laws have cut arrivals to a trickle, but Budapest is not taking any chances.

 

"Attention, attention. I'm warning you that you are at the Hungarian border," the loudspeakers say in English, Arabic and Farsi from the new barrier.

 

"If you damage the fence, cross illegally, or attempt to cross, it's counted to be a crime in Hungary. I'm warning you to hold back from committing this crime. You can submit your asylum application at the transit zone."

 

The "transit zones" are two border posts where a total of just 10 migrants per day are allowed in legally. Rights groups say they are wholly inadequate and, by creating such a tight bottleneck, may be illegal.

 

The new floodlit fence of wire reinforced with steel will give anyone who touches it an electric shock that well-informed sources say is mild. A police roadway will run between it and the old barrier.

 

"REASSURING"

 

Only 10 km (six miles) of the new structure has been completed but officials say the remaining 140 km (85 miles) along the border with Serbia will be finished in just two months, built largely by 700 prison inmates.

 

Hungary's populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called mass immigration from the Middle East and Africa an existential threat to the European way of life.

 

"The first fence was a quick solution from the government, but not a perfect one as human traffickers come equipped with tools to cut it," said Laszlo Toroczkai, mayor of the border village of Asotthalom, who first called for borders to be sealed in 2014.

 

He called the new barrier "far more serious" and "absolutely reassuring".

 

Border patrols prevent hundreds of crossings every day and catch migrants who make it into Hungary within the first few miles of the border, according to authorities.

 

The government has earmarked 38 billion forints (123 million euros) for the second fence. Orban's chief of staff Janos Lazar said on Thursday the total cost of the border effort, including patrols and transit zones, was nearing 1 billion euros.

 

(Editing by Andrew Roche)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-03

Hungary is a smart government, not like the idiots ruining Sweden and Germany.

 

Nice!!! They have the right idea. Free labor from the prisoners and they get to protect their borders.  With all the prisoners in Thai jails I'm guessing they could knock one of these up in the South in a few weeks.

3 hours ago, xerostar said:

Hungary is a smart government, not like the idiots ruining Sweden and Germany.

 

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

with few migrants in sight

Ha ha ha they were smart and went to Australia to get in on the $25,000. Then go home and set up a business. Looks like Hungary and Australia came up short on smarts. 

They'll be glad they did this once Turkey either goes belly-up or reneges on that 'deal' Merkel struck.

Time for a better first line of defence in Serbia, Macedonia und Bulgaria. Forget Greece.

Quote " existential threat to the European way of life" ... a bit too late, European life is already ruined by the politically correct, and the looney left. 

7 hours ago, xerostar said:

Hungary is a smart government, not like the idiots ruining Sweden and Germany.

 

 

Wonder if Luxembourg, that important EU founder member state, will complain about Hungary again? And again demand that Brussels suspends Hungry or tells them they must take the fence down?

 

Obviously Luxembourg thought that up all on their own, 555!

 

 

So, it seems completely alright with the world if every country EXCEPT the U.S. puts up walls and fences to protect their borders. Too many hypocrites in the world today.

Erdogan will no doubt let the flow of migrants start again as a way to get back at the EU. 

Now is the time to do it before the summer and the migrant business hits high season.

6 hours ago, mrwebb8825 said:

So, it seems completely alright with the world if every country EXCEPT the U.S. puts up walls and fences to protect their borders. Too many hypocrites in the world today.

The US have already put up a fence, which is alright by me. Actually not just a fence, but a multilayer line of defences (note to self: look up etymology of fence and defence; personal hobby). Just that "wall" is not going to actually add anything worthwhile to it.