Roundup: Over 10,000 refugees cross over from Hungary to Austria, Germany: media

Well over 10,000 refugees crossed over from Hungary to Austria and Germany, the Internet portal Index.hu reported on Sunday, while wire service MTI said 1,459 people had crossed into the country from outside the EU and been apprehended since Sunday midnight.

Vikoria Csiszer-Kovacs, spokesperson for the National Police Force has warned that transporting people across the border counts as people-smuggling, a felony, but halting at the border, allowing them to cross on foot, and picking them up again on the other side is legal if no money changes hands.

She issued the warning to members of a convoy of Austrian cars that drove to Budapest to pick up refugees and drive them into Austria. The drivers could be punished by up to three years imprisonment, Csiszer-Kovacs said.

Tibor Lakatos of the National Police Force said that rail and road traffic was moving through Hungary more or less on schedule and that teams of Hungarian, German, and Austrian police were patrolling trains leaving Budapest's Eastern (Keleti) Railway Station for Austria.

Meanwhile trains were arriving at the Hegyeshalom border crossing between Hungary and Austria more or less hourly where police have been directing refugees on how to change for trains taking them into Austria.

The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade responded angrily to charges from Swiss Social Democrat Party chair Christian Levrat that Hungary had behaved "scandalously and had violated human rights" in its treatment of refugees.

Levrat called for freezing financial aid to Hungary and banning Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban from entering Switzerland.

The ministry argued that Hungary had kept to all European Union rules despite the inconceivably huge inflow of refugees, and had been doing everything in its power to protect the Schengen (outer European Union) borders. Statements like that do not help and are good only for superfluous political incitement, said the ministry communique.

"This is just the first wave of refugees, and a much larger number of much poorer people will be on their heels," security policy expert Gyorgy Nogradi said on television news channel M1 on Sunday.

Justice Minister Laszlo Trocsanyi also acknowledged the huge numbers of asylum-seekers, and speaking on Kossuth Radio, said that the law parliament adopted on Friday had declared a state of emergency regarding refugees. Under that law the country will be able to adopt accelerated legislation, including laws to halt illegal crossings into Hungary.

Hungary will set up and specify transit zones where people entering the country will be required to register and submit applications for asylum. People-smugglers will be severely punished, he added.

Asylum-seekers who refuse to register will be subject to expulsion from the country. Once expelled, the person will not be allowed to reenter Hungary for a definite period of time. Endit