‘The activities of human smugglers operating within the framework of organised crime pose a threat to the security of the whole of Europe, which is why it is crucial to take decisive action against them,’ Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior Bence Rétvári said on Tuesday in Budapest.
Bence Rétvári recalled at the farewell ceremony of the Hungarian police contingent heading to Serbia that a mission was launched in January this year in cooperation with Austrian and Serbian law enforcement to defend the southern borders of Serbia to combat illegal migration and human smugglers. The state secretary highlighted that in recent times, human smuggling has become one of the main sources of income for organised criminal groups. estimates suggest that for the smuggling of an illegal migrant from Turkey to Germany, criminals can pocket the equivalent of about 5.7 million Hungarian forints. In return, they organise the transport of migrants, facilitate their crossing of borders, and even provide them with accommodation and food.
Bence Rétvári noted that neither the number of illegal migrants nor the number of smugglers is decreasing, and some choose this form of crime at a very young age; there have even been cases of 14-year-old smugglers having been apprehended.
‘Therefore, the trilateral agreement between Austria, Hungary, and Serbia is important, as it allows us to fight this form of crime not only at Hungary’s, but also at Serbia’s southern border,’ Rétvári emphasised.
The state secretary spoke about how Austria, which is no longer able to accommodate masses of additional migrants, vetoed Bulgaria and Romania’s Schengen accession because these two countries were not able to effectively combat illegal migration and human smuggling. Therefore, the activities of Hungarian police officers, who work with thermal cameras and night vision devices, are particularly important for protecting Europe’s security.
‘You will spend a month in a completely different culture, in a foreign-language environment, and we are proud that you are taking on this responsibility,’ Bence Rétvári said at the farewell ceremony, also thanking the Hungarian police officers for their dedicated work during the papal visit and the security they provided for the apostolic visit.
