Hungarian police find 2 tunnels used by migrants on border

44 migrants who had used the precarious passageway and a Serbian citizen suspected of human trafficking, were arrested by the Hungarian police

AFP|
Hungarian police said Friday that they discovered two tunnels used by migrants to enter the country from Serbia.
Police said that a tunnel 34 meters long was discovered near the southern village of Asotthalom, where they also detained 44 migrants who had used the precarious passageway.
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הונגריה מנהרה מהגרים ל אירופה מסתננים
הונגריה מנהרה מהגרים ל אירופה מסתננים
The tunnel
(Photo: AP)
Police Col. Jeno Szilassi-Horvath said a Serbian citizen suspected of human trafficking had been detained along with the migrants.
The tunnel near Asotthalom was about 50 centimeters wide, 60 centimeters high, and had been dug as deep as about 6 meters below the surface without any support beams or other elements to prevent its collapse.
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הונגריה מנהרה מהגרים ל אירופה מסתננים
הונגריה מנהרה מהגרים ל אירופה מסתננים
Inside the tunnel
(Photo: AP)
Szilassi-Horvath said the dig, which likely lasted a few weeks and was done without any machines, had gone undetected thanks to the thick underbrush in the area and because the soil dug out was dumped in a nearby canal.
He added that security officials were using drones and scanners to search for any more tunnels.
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הונגריה מנהרה מהגרים ל אירופה מסתננים
הונגריה מנהרה מהגרים ל אירופה מסתננים
The forest clearing where the tunnel was found
(Photo: AP)
The other tunnel, in the village of Csikeria, was 21.7 meters long, but no successful migrant crossings took place there. Police said they discovered both tunnels not long after their construction was completed and filled both of them up again.
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The Hungarian border fence
The Hungarian border fence
The Hungarian border fence
(Photo: AFP)
In 2015, at the height of the migration crisis, Hungary built razor-wire fences on its southern borders to stem or divert the flow of people, many from the Middle East and Asia, making their way to Western Europe.
In recent weeks, the number of migrants found near the border in Hungary and expelled back to Serbia through gates in the fences has been on the rise, from usually far less than 200 a week earlier this year to 375, 492 and 642 in the past three weeks.
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Refugees on the Hungarian-Austrian border
Refugees on the Hungarian-Austrian border
Refugees on the Hungarian-Austrian border
(Photo: EPA)
Asylum seekers may file their claims at two transit zones along the border, but recent legal changes allow authorities to reject most of the claims of those arriving from Serbia.
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