Hungary enacts tough migrant laws (video)

 Hungary enacts tough migrant laws (video)

Hungary has brought in tough new migrant laws which it says will "start a new era" in preventing the inflow of illegal immigrants.

Police can now detain anyone who tries to breach a razor-wire fence built on the border with Serbia.

Hungary has become a key point on the journey north for thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa.

On Monday, EU ministers failed to agree unanimously on mandatory quotas to relocate 120,000 asylum seekers.

Instead, at the meeting in Brussels, a majority agreed "in principle" and negotiations will now take place ahead of another meeting in October.

'Green borders'
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The new Hungarian laws came into effect at midnight (22:00 GMT Monday).

From now on anyone who crosses the border illegally will face criminal charges, and 30 judges have been put on standby to try potential offenders.

The laws also make it a criminal offence - punishable by prison or deportation - to damage the newly-built four-metre (13ft) fence along Hungary's 175km (110 mile) border with Serbia.

At the scene: BBC's Nick Thorpe in Roszke, Hungary

As darkness fell on Monday night, a locomotive and a single wagon unloaded coils of razor wire on the barrier across the railway, and those migrants who were unable to cross set out on the 12km walk to Kiralyhalom, the next border crossing point.

The previous day, I drove the same section and counted 17 points at which the fence had been breached.

If the fence does prove too difficult to cross, many people may loop round to cross through Hungary's still almost unguarded borders with Romania (450km) or Croatia (350km).

Mounted police have been deployed along the border.

Police also sealed a railway crossing point that had been used by tens of thousands of migrants to enter the EU.

"We will start a new era," government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said shortly after midnight. "We will stop the inflow of illegal migrants over our green borders."

But he added: "That also means that the official and legal ways to come to Hungary and therefore to the European Union remain open. That's all we ask from all migrants - that they should comply with international and European law."

'No consensus'

At the Brussels talks, Luxembourg, which holds the EU presidency, said it was hoped that the relocation proposal could be made law at a meeting on 8 October.

The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary were reportedly among the nations opposed to mandatory quotas.

"There was no consensus, several countries disagreed," Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said after the talks.

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said "not everyone is on board at the moment".

He warned the situation in Europe was "urgent and dramatic and time is of the essence".

Ministers did, however, agree to begin the relocation of 40,000 migrants from Greece and Italy to other EU states, as proposed by the European Commission before the summer.

Analysis: Chris Morris, BBC News, Brussels

After a difficult meeting marked by heated debate, there was no unanimous agreement on the proposal to relocate another 120,000 refugees across the EU - with mandatory quotas for individual member states.

The idea was to take the strain off countries like Greece and Italy, where most refugees first arrive. A clear majority of countries did agree to the proposal in principle, and that would be enough to push it through if necessary, against the wishes of countries like Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic that remain opposed. For now though, there will be further talks in the hope of maintaining unity, at a time when many of the core values of the European Union are being put under close scrutiny.

EU ministers also agreed to push ahead with robust measures to process new arrivals more quickly and efficiently, and send home those whose asylum applications are rejected. But critics will be disappointed that more decisive action was not taken, given the scale of the crisis confronting Europe.

Under complex EU rules, a unanimous vote is not required and decisions can be made with a qualified majority.

However, correspondents say that would be a show of disunity that the EU is trying to avoid.

Asselborn said a list of safe countries, to which failed asylum seekers can be returned, had been agreed on principle.

European states have been struggling to cope with a record influx of migrants, who are mainly trying to reach Germany and Sweden.

On Monday, a number of European countries followed Germany's suit in introducing temporary border checks.

The moves are a challenge to the EU's Schengen agreement on free movement, although the rules do allow for temporary controls in emergencies.

Austrian police said up to 7,000 people had arrived from Hungary on Monday, and 14,000 on Sunday.

Chancellor Werner Faymann said troops were also being deployed, mainly to provide humanitarian help within Austria, but would be sent to the border if necessary.

From The Daily Star.