With the release of hundreds of convicted people smugglers, the Hungarian government apparently wants to increase the pressure on the EU. Budapest is still defending the regulation that caused enormous resentment between Austria and its neighbour. It is also emphasized that Brussels bears the responsibility here.
Hungary had to make this decision because the EU does not contribute to the costs of border security, but at the same time punishes Hungary by overcrowding its prisons, Secretary of State Bence Rétvári said on Tuesday. Rétvári stressed that the new regulation would affect 808 prisoners, most of whom would come from neighboring countries. The costs of border control would amount to more than 1.5 billion euros that Budapest has spent on this goal since 2015 and that the EU owes the country. So far, only one percent of this amount has been covered.
The annual costs per detainee are around 13,300 euros
Illegal immigrants aim for Europe “we stop at our southern border, we stop the smugglers and detain them”, Rétvári stressed. While the EU is not providing Hungary with funding to cover the costs of incarcerating traffickers and building new prisons, it also expects that “we will keep the arrested foreign criminals in Hungarian prisons, financed with Hungarian taxpayers’ money”. The annual cost for one prisoner would be five million forints (about 13,300 euros).
State Secretary: Convicted smugglers led to overcrowded prisons
The main reason for the overcrowding in Hungarian prisons was the approximately 2,600 imprisoned traffickers convicted in recent years. Proceedings had previously been initiated against Hungary, citing “inhumane conditions as a result of this overcrowding”. At the same time, the secretary of state recalled the “prison cases”, where “lawyers for detainees sought compensation suits for billions of forints, citing prison overcrowding and poor prison conditions”.
No “resocialization” for Hungarian prisoners
However, Rétvári explained that it would by no means be an amnesty. Because if the freedmen do not leave the country within 72 hours, they will be arrested again and have to serve the rest of their sentence. Meanwhile, the new arrangement is causing problems for many Hungarian fellow prisoners. Because Hungarian citizens do not benefit from this so-called rehabilitation.
Source: Krone
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