UN: Hungary automatically rejects asylum seekers

By Mehmet Yilmaz

BUDAPEST (AA) - The UN Refugee Agency said on Thursday that Hungary automatically rejects asylum applications on the basis of hard laws, regardless of their content.

A statement from the agency said that two families including seven children have been kept in two camps on the border with Serbia since January. The Hungarian authorities told the families on the night of May 7, all of them would be sent back to Afghanistan by plane if they did not return to Serbia.

"The situation of these families strengthens our deep concern about Hungary. In Hungary, asylum applications are automatically rejected on the basis of hard laws, irrespective of their content," said UN Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

The government has put barbed wire at the borders of Serbia and Croatia in order to stop the influx of irregular migrants.