International Cooperation Is the Only Way to Tackle People Smuggling in EU, Hungarian Security Chief Says

Chief Security Advisor, Gyorgy Bakondi has said that international cooperation is the only way for European law enforcement to be efficient in the combat of people smugglers.

According to Bakondi, Frontex, the EU Border Agency and other EU law enforcement bodies would play a key role in coordinating the exchange of information as well as carrying out international operations that tackle people smuggling circles, as people smugglers operate within an international network, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

However, as Bakondi noted, as long as the EU’s migration policy treats migration as a positive phenomenon, it will become more attractive to people smugglers, thus illegal migrations will continue to rise. The Chief Security noted that the Hungarian authorities have prevented more than 20,000 people from illegally crossing the EU border so far this year, and have launched processing for more than 200 people smugglers.

The number of people illegally entering Hungary in 2022 increased from 122,239 to 269,254 – representing a 122 per cent increase, while the number of daily average attempts reached 738.

According to Bakondi, a total of 1,924 people smugglers were arrested last year, up from 1,277 arrested in 2021. In addition, he noted that the number of people smugglers jailed in Hungary has reached 2,500, all nationals of 73 different countries, which cost the central budget over three billion forints, equivalent to €7.4 million.

“Border protection duties were carried out by a force of 500 armed security guards and 13,476 civil guards helped by 237 Czech, 70 Austrian, 50 Turkish, and 39 Slovak police officers along the Serbian border,” Bakondi note.

Regarding border protection costs, he said that last year these procedures cost a total of 650 billion forints or 1.63 billion euros, with 98.5 per cent of which being covered by Hungary’s central budget.

Bakondi also noted that there were 265 cases of violent immigrants who attacked Hungarian patrol guards along the Serbian border, causing 29 troops and 12 policemen to report injuries.

The Chief Security Advisor also noted that Hungary remains the main route for irregular migrants coming from the Balkans under the people smugglers’ assistance, which is causing the number of illegal entries to rise. The majority of migrants reaching Hungary come from Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Morocco, and India.

The most recent data by Frontex prove such claims to be true as the number of illegal border crossings has increased significantly during the first two months of 2023. More specifically, 11,951 cases were recorded in January and February, which is 119 per cent more than the number of illegal border crossings recorded in the same period in 2021.