Hungarian, Czech and Slovak police join Serbian border patrols against migrant trespassers

Record ID: 78115

  • Title: Hungarian, Czech and Slovak police join Serbian border patrols against migrant trespassers
  • Date: 21st November 2016
  • Summary: DIMITROVGRAD, SERBIA (NOVEMBER 21, 2016) (REUTERS) MEMBERS OF HUNGARIAN AND SERBIAN POLICE AT BRIEFING THREE HUNGARIAN POLICEMEN STANDING BRIEFING IN PROGRESS VARIOUS OF HUNGARIAN POLICEMAN SHOWING NIGHT VISION SCOPE POLICEMEN LEAVING POLICEMEN PUTTING GEAR INTO HUNGARIAN POLICE VEHICLE HUNGARIAN AND SERBIAN POLICEMEN ENTERING CAR VARIOUS OF POLICE CAR/DRIVING ON ROAD DIMITROVGRAD, SERBIA (NOVEMBER 21, 2016) (REUTERS) (MUTE) TWO HUNGARIAN POLICE CARS ON ROAD DIMITROVGRAD, SERBIA (NOVEMBER 21, 2016) (REUTERS) HUNGARIAN POLICEMAN DRIVING VARIOUS OF HUNGARIAN POLICE CARS ON ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN POLICE MAJOR, TAMAS FARKAS, SAYING: "Hungarian policemen have a primarily advisory role here and they back their Serbian colleagues. They may only use their weapons for self-defence." HUNGARIAN AND SERBIAN POLICEMEN ON FIELD SERBIAN POLICEMAN SHOWING SERBIAN -BULGARIAN BORDER TO HUNGARIAN POLICEMAN HUNGARIAN POLICEMAN WATCHING BORDER WITH BINOCULARS HUNGARIAN AND SERBIAN POLICEMEN WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN POLICE MAJOR, TAMAS FARKAS, SAYING: "This is the second group deployed here in Serbia. The first group carried out some arrests related to illegal migration. So far, with our contingent, there has been no action." SERBIAN POLICEMAN STOPPING VAN HUNGARIAN POLICEMAN WATCHING SERBIAN POLICEMEN CHECKING DRIVER'S PAPERS (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) SERBIAN POLICE OFFICER Lt. COLONEL, SONJA CVETKOVIC, SAYING: "The international contingent numbers 50. Of those, 15 are Slovak, 15 are Czech policemen and 20 are policemen from Hungary." VARIOUS OF POLICE CHECKING OUT CAR (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) SERBIAN POLICE OFFICER Lt. COLONEL, SONJA CVETKOVIC, SAYING: "It is important that we, together with international forces, point out to smugglers that all countries have joined the fight against illegal migration and the smuggling of people." HUNGARIAN POLICEMEN OBSERVING SERBIAN AND HUNGARIAN POLICE STANDING ON ROAD HUNGARIAN POLICE LOGO ON UNIFORM
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2016 16:05
  • Keywords: Serbia border patrol Hungary Czech Republic Slovak police migrant crisis influx
  • Location: DIMITROVGRAD, SERBIA
  • City: DIMITROVGRAD, SERBIA
  • Country: Serbia
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00159E0H1J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Czech, Slovak and Hungarian police officers on Monday (November 21) joined Serbia's combined police and army units patrolling the Balkan country's border with Bulgaria in a bid to stem the flow of migrants attempting to reach wealthy EU countries.
    Serbia in July launched patrols combining police with military personnel. Only in the area of Pirot, 300 kilometres southeast of Belgrade, patrols recorded around 16,000 border crossing attempts, according to local police.
    Reinforcements are now primarily intended to dissuade migrants, often guided or transported by smugglers, from entering Serbia and continuing toward Hungary.
    "Hungarian policemen have a primarily advisory role here and they back their Serbian colleagues. They may only use their weapons for self-defense," Hungarian police major Tamas Farkas said.
    He added that there had been no arrests so far but admitted that an earlier group which had joined Serbian patrols along the border with Macedonia had carried out some arrests.
    "The first group carried out some arrests related to illegal migration. So far, with our contingent, there has been no action," Farkas said.
    Balkan countries closed their borders to migrants in March, after around one million people passed toward EU over the previous year, but hundreds trickle through each day and make their way to the fenced-off border between Serbia and Hungary.
    Many do it through smugglers, who can charge thousands of dollars and expose the migrants to grave danger - anything from armed robbery to drowning.
    "It is important that we, together with international forces, point out to smugglers that all countries have joined the fight against illegal migration and the smuggling of people," said Serbian police officer Sonja Cvetovic.
    Hungary already dispatched police to Macedonia's border with Greece in early 2016, to help Skopje reduce the influx of refugees and migrants who have remained stuck there due to the gradual closing of the borders.
    At least 6,500 people are presently stranded in Serbia, mostly in overcrowded reception centres, but more than 1,000 are in informal shelters, without any control or care.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register