Hungary intercepts 2,000 people for illegal border crossing
Xinhua, February 9, 2015 Adjust font size:
Hungarian police intercepted 937 people who crossed the country's border illegally on Sunday, 880 of whom were from Kosovo, wire service MTI reported on Monday, citing local police.
On Saturday, Police reported the detainment of 1,022 people for illegal entry near the Serbian border, and 991 of them were from Kosovo.
All those people have submitted applications for asylum, which will be ruled by Hungary's Immigration and Naturalization Bureau.
The sharp increase in the number of Kosovo people who attempted to cross the border was believed to be a result of the ease of travel restrictions imposed on them and Kosovo people's initiative to cope with poverty, unemployment, and political uncertainty.
According to data released by the Office of Immigration and Nationality in Hungary early this month, 43,000 people applied for asylum in Hungary in 2014, and half of them were from Kosovo. In January, nearly 14,000 asylum seekers have been registered, and 10,000 of them were from Kosovo.
About half the asylum applicants left Hungary within 24 hours and another 30 to 40 percent continued their trip in a week or so, according to official statistics. Enditem