0:02 V/O: A team from the private Hungarian broadcaster TV-2 has recently shown how poorly monitored the Hungarian border is and how easily smugglers earn money. They make 15,000-20,000 Schilling per person they get across the border. In an interview one recounts how he smuggles his customers to Austria.
0:27 Hungarian Smuggler: It’s all very well organised, we slip past the border guard and with an infrared night-vision device we take people over the border.
V/O: Unscathed, the reporter explains that the smugglers took him to the border without any problems. He would only need take one step further and he would be in Burgenland, Austria.
Only once it gets light do the border guards have a chance of catching illegal border crossers. At night the patrolling guards only have their hearing to rely on. To an extent they are worse equipped than the smugglers. The Hungarian border guards only have a few night vision devices, and no thermal cameras at all. Hungary is hoping for support from the EU.
1:15 Sándor Pintér, Minister of the Interior: There are unfortunately great backlogs on the green border. We are currently using night vision equipment there that were sent from Germany. By the end of 2001 with the help of EU money we want acquire thermal cameras, which are already common in Austria.
V/O: But even by day, it is not too difficult to cross the Hungarian border by yourself. Most try to cross here – on the railway of the Budapest to Vienna train, at the Hegyeshalom border crossing. The area, where freight trains must stop for a customs check, is not secured. The hilly terrain is ideal for illegal border crossers. Freight trains approach very slowly, enough time for the crossers to jump on.
The risk of being caught here is relatively low. Officers are alone on patrol. The staff shortages are so great that border guards don’t patrol in pairs, as is expected in other countries.
2:21 Tibor Ékes, Head of Border Patrol, Hegyeshalom: We have too few staff here in Hegyeshalom. We can only fill 70% of all the posts. But we aren’t only lacking in personnel, but also in the necessary technology. It’s as simple as this: if you have the right technology, you also need fewer personnel. In Hesyshalom we would at least need more personnel because the technology is so bad here.
V/O: The profession of a border guard is not very attractive. The job is hard, and the pay is low. A border guard earns 2,500 Schilling a month. A shop assistant in a boutique in central Budapest could expect to earn twice that.
Nevertheless, not everyone manages to bypass the Hungarian guards. Last year Hungary apprehended more than 15,000 people trying to cross the border. More than a third were attempting to cross to Austria. More than 4,000 were able to smuggle themselves to Austria, only to be caught be Austrian border guards and sent back to Hungary.
They are gathered here in a centre in Gyor. It often takes days to discern where the border crosser has come from. The majority come from Romania, Moldova or Ukraine. They are so-called economic migrants, who want to enter Austria, Germany or Italy to work illegally on a temporary basis. With the money they earn they can live in their home country for one to two years. In the centre they wait for their deportation, as is confirmed by Hungarian border guards.
Even if they are granted Asylum here, most of them leave the refugee camp and try to cross the border again illegally. They’ll keep trying until they succeed. Hungary for them is not a destination country, but a transit one.
While so-called economic migrants go solo, some who flee for religious or political reasons require the help of people smugglers. They often come from the Far or Middle East and have arrived in Europe for the first time, like this man. He has fled from the Gaddafi regime in Libya with the help of Turkish people smugglers, who met him in Istanbul.
Libyan refugee: I payed over $1,700. And at the border they took another $700 from me. They didn’t tell me that would happen, but they said “we’re the Mafia” and they took the money.
Attila Krisán, spokesperson for the Hungarian border patrol: The smugglers are well organised gangs and organisations, for which many Hungarians work. They are equipped with the latest technology and they are well informed about all the entry points. They know the truck stops and assembly points in Budapest and the blind spots on the border.
V/O: Almost all migrants come to Hungary via the so-called Balkan route, through Romania or Ukraine. Most economic refugees even enter legally, as Ukrainians, Romanians, Yugoslavs and Moldovans don’t need a visa to enter Hungary. Even during the NATO war against the Milosevic regime, Yugoslavs could travel to Hungary without a visa.
Hungary will continue to allow visa-free entry for its neighbours, due to the significant Hungarian minorities that reside in the countries. More than 3 million Hungarians live outside of Hungary, and it won’t want to cut ties between them and their motherland. The question remains what Hungary will do if the country joins the EU in two- or three-year’s time.
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