Hungary border controls in crisis with police shortage
GETTY Hungary must recruit more police forces to patrol the Hungary/Serbia fence
The police unit, called the ‘Border Hunters’, has undertaken a huge recruitment drive to fill 3,000 positions, but many people fail the psychology test. Hungary currently accepts only 10 applicants for asylum a day from Serbia, a country where 7,000 asylum seekers are waiting for the chance to move to western Europe. The new recruits will carry pistols with live ammunition, pepper spray, batons and handcuffs.
Migrant protests in Hungary Thu, September 17, 2015 Migrants protest outside Budapest's Keleti Railway Station after it was closed off by police to prevent people travelling on to western Europe. Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 53 A Migrant is helped to wash tear gas from his eyes after clashes with Hungarian police at the Horgos border
GETTY Hungary want to tighten up their border controls
Of course there are some to whom we say, ‘We cannot let you into the training course, because you are not suitable for a career in the police Hungarian police chief Karoly Papp
They are supposed to have six months’ training, including with firearms and also information about Islam and other cultures they may come into contact with. Hardline Prime Minister Victor Orban closed the border in late 2015, but despite a razor wire border fence, thousands of migrants still try to cross from Serbia to Hungary. This led to the Hungarian government building an additional electric fence and the launch of the ‘border hunters’, who are due to start in May.
In January, 80 migrants were caught every night trying to enter Hungary with many successfully climbing or cutting through the fence. That is despite an EU deal with Turkey reducing migrant attempts significantly. More than 1,000 migrants have crated a makeshift camp with many attempting to cross the border fence into Hungary nightly. But only 1,000 of the 2,700 people who applied for the job from last August to January this year were accepted. Almost 400 people failed the psychology test.
GETTY Serbian migrants try to enter Hungary on a nightly basis