MIGRANTS

Budapest Plans Transit Centers as Hungary Faces Migrant Surge

The city of Budapest plans to set up transit centers for migrants near its main railway stations to provide basic facilities after Hungary became one of the main entry points for those seeking asylum in the European Union.

The services will include toilets, showers and access to fresh water, the municipality said in a statement on Wednesday. Volunteer groups will continue to carry out other tasks such as giving out food and information.

Budapest “cannot and does not want to provide accommodation to immigrants and their families,” according to the municipality’s statement. The initiative aims to ensure the “fastest possible” transit of asylum-seekers to their final destinations with the “least pressure” on the Hungarian capital, it said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has urged the European Union to back hard-line policies against migrants and ordered the construction of a fence on the country’s border with Serbia.

More than 103,000 immigrants have registered so far this year in Hungary, state-run news service MTI reported on Wednesday, compared with 43,000 in the whole of 2014. After entering the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone in Hungary, most continue their journey to settle in western Europe.

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