One hundred and forty-four illegal immigrants have been arrested trying to cross the Hungarian border over the weekend, it has been revealed.
According to the National Police Headquarters, 51 people were detained on Friday, 11 on Saturday and 39 on Sunday.
The offenders were accompanied back to the temporary border fence at the Serbian-Hungarian border by members of the police and defence forces. 43 illegal border crossers were apprehended in the interior of the country and on other external border sections.
Based on the new rules which entered into force July 5, illegal border crossers who are apprehended within a distance of five miles of the Serbian or Croatian border are accompanied back to the gates at the border fence and are directed towards the nearest transit zone.
Those who have crossed the border illegally or damaged the border fence or are suspected of people smuggling continue to face criminal charges, while those apprehended on the Romanian and Ukrainian border sections are subjected to police proceedings.
Last week 280 people were detained and taken back to the border in the vicinity of the Serbian-Hungarian border, while the week before – from August 29 to September 4 – this number was 271. That same week 73 illegal border crossers were apprehended on other external border sections and in the interior of the country.