Migration pressure along Hungary’s southern border may have decreased, as locals on the Serbian side of the border say they have not seen a single refugee for months.
ADVERTISEMENTA year ago, hundreds of illegal immigrants lived in the barns of the Kárász farm near Horgos on Hungary’s southern border. Border crossers used to leave here at night to get through the barbed wire fences.
Today, discarded energy drink cans and animal remains are the only signs that crowds once lived here. The roof has collapsed, the nylon sheeting protecting the windows has been ripped off and the whole area has been pummelled by weeds.
For a year, the Serbian authorities systematically evacuated the farm and collected migrants one by one from the surrounding area, transporting them to camps in the Serbian towns of Kikinda and Preševo.
A local woman, Aunt Martha, told Euronews that a month ago Serbian commandos were still standing in the main square with buses. Anyone without papers was picked up and taken away. She said that since the summer the area has become much safer.
László has witnessed several atrocities in the past. He was nearby when Middle Eastern immigrants opened fire on each other. The shooting continued at the Kárász farm until the Serbian police arrived. The Belgrade authorities decided to dismantle the makeshift camp shortly afterwards.
The commandos’ buses and foreigners have since disappeared, yet the Hungarian Interior Ministry regularly reports that hundreds of people are besieging the southern border every day. One thing is certain: not at Röszke.