Hungary: Whether criminal organizations from the former Yugoslavia use taxi drivers to smuggle people into Austria; measures taken by the Hungarian police and judicial authorities

No reports of criminal organizations from former Yugoslavia that use taxi drivers to smuggle people from Hungary into Austria could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

However, a 23 September 2000 Jane's Security News report on people smuggling states that:

Hungary is perfect transit country. On one side Romanians enter freely, and the border is long and easy to cross, like those with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), Croatia and Slovenia further to the south, and the western border with Austria. Since the wars in the former Yugoslavia and the trade embargo have diverted most of Western Europe-bound truck flow to routes through Hungary, the volume of cargo traffic allows for large numbers of illegal crossings. Of the 41,502 illegal immigrants caught trying to enter Austria in 1999, over 80% came either directly from or through Hungary. Apart from East Europeans, Asians are increasingly using this route.

In early August, 46 people were discovered in a state of near-asphyxiation during a routine Hungarian border check of a 15-person capacity van. They included nationals of Afghanistan, Somalia, India and Nepal. A particular problem for the Hungarians are the Chinese. Budapest boasts a near 100,000-strong, well-established Chinese community. Hungarian Border Police suspect that passports of legal residents are taken back to China and used to bring others into the country. Once they legally enter Hungary, they continue westwards illegally.

An October 2000 Migration News report also states that:

One favorite transit country is Hungary, which Romanians can enter without visas, and then be smuggled in the extensive truck traffic bound for Vienna or cross into Austria over agricultural areas. Of the 41,502 illegal immigrants caught trying to enter Austria in 1999, over 80 percent came either directly from or through Hungary.

On measures taken by the Hungarian police and judicial authorities to curb the activities of organized crime in Hungary, including people smuggling, the Hungarian Minister of the Interior stated at the High-Level Signing Conference for the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime held in December 2000 in Palermo that:

The [Hungarian] Government has been making serious efforts in the past two-and-a- half years to improve public safety and security. By way of new legislation and by increasing the severity of punishment for existing acts, it has created the necessary legal framework for combating organized crime. Hungary has also developed law enforcement agencies and organizations. These entities have been restructured, their staff increased and their equipment improved. A new life career system was also elaborated for those working for these organizations, thus ensuring them better moral and material esteem.

Hungary has also intensified its international cooperation and has concluded bilateral agreements with some 30 countries to combat organized crime. It has also ratified numerous related international conventions. In Hungary's view, the Budapest Group, with about 40 member countries and 10 international member organizations, plays a very important role in combating illegal migration. The positive experiences of the past confirm that international training programmes – joint projects – are very important pre-conditions for effective anti-crime operations. Learning about one another's legal practices is of great importance since we all want to harmonize our legal systems.

The documents to be signed will create a new legal foundation for combating international organized crime and for promoting cooperation among the law enforcement agencies and judicial bodies of countries. An important task for the future is to publicize the documents and to implement their contents in practice. The law enforcement agencies of Hungary will spare no effort – in cooperation with other countries – to put a stop to transborder crime (UNODCCP 14 Dec. 2000).

A 21 July 2000 Nepszabadsag report quotes Peszo Kovacs, the Hungarian chief director of the Border Guard authorities, on the measures that were being taken to meet the standards of the Shenghen Treaty with respect to curbing illegal border crossing, in order to facilitate Hungary's eventual entry into the European Union.

Kovacs said that the future external borders, primarily the eastern and the southern ones, should be strengthened, among other things. In connection, decisions should be made on further reorganizations and on increasing the staff level, which currently has a shortage of more than 3,000 people.

In any event, Border Guard authorities have purchased a number of up-to-date pieces of equipment. The Border Guards have already received night-vision equipment, industrial endoscopes suitable for examining hidden vehicle compartments, and carbon dioxide searchers to detect hidden people. The organization will also buy eight heat-sensitive surveillance systems this year. The Border Guards have also received Lada Niva trucks as compensation for the Russian state debt. Apart from this, further major developments and tens of billions of forints will be needed for this and to reach the required level of staffing. Major resources from the relevant PHARE fund are available for this purpose, but the Co-op Program only covers half of the real costs.

The developments are already targeted to the eastern and the southern border stretches, because one should stop illegal migration at the borders, rather than inside Hungary, Kovacs emphasized. The most threatened regions are the Yugoslav and the Ukrainian borders. The latter especially is a problem, because the buildings are in a very poor shape, and most of the Border Guard offices are located in places other than where they are most needed. This is also the reason for the failure to fill all of the available positions, although 30 to 40 percent fewer people than necessary work in other regions, as well.

According to Kovacs, higher staff levels would not necessarily result in higher efficiency. He said that the Border Guards' detection service first needs to know where to deploy the not too densely staffed units. It is the task of a group of less than 500 people to obtain information on illegal migration and on the activity of people smugglers. The authorities have arranged every necessary condition for that. The investigators can apply a full range of secret service tools and methods, from tapping phone conversations (if there are adequate legal conditions) to infiltrating the people smuggling groups. They have the most technologically advanced equipment in the organization. They can find evidence of the captured people smugglers' involvement in organized crime in an increasing number of cases.

Kovacs is dissatisfied with some criminal investigation services. In his view, new methods will have to be applied in order to improve efficiency in many places, such as increasing the independence of border guards in service or replacing certain leaders. We should become able to obtain information on illegal border crossing plans in time, rather than capturing border crossers accompanied by organized people smugglers by chance, Kovacs said. The Border Guards have preliminary information on the arrival of 60 to 70 percent of the smugglers' arrivals at the borders. Kovacs did not deny that the so-called strolling border crossers, who cross the border by chance, have high chances of success, but the number of such cases is negligible. According to the BM, it would be reasonable to merge the Police and the Border Guards for reasons of economics and efficiency. The ministry has initiated a preliminary political negotiation on the issue, because the Constitution and several two-thirds laws would have to be amended.

Although the opposition is currently against this idea, the proposal will be included in the BM's central budget draft for next year. It will contain a remark on one condition to the merger, namely that the Defense Ministry's annual budget should be given 25-30 billion forints, because at this point, the entire central budget resource spent on the border guards is being classified as a defense expense. This amount is also needed to fulfill the NATO requirement that 1.5 percent of the GDP should be spent on defense purposes. Kovacs refused to comment on this, because, in his view, it is a political decision. He only confirmed that one task of the Border Guard authorities is to prepare a study on the anticipated impact of the merger by the end of the summer. The government might discuss the merger in September, but Kovacs did not comment on this either.

No further information specific to the measures taken by the Hungarian authorities to curb people smuggling activities in Hungary could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Jane's Security News [London, UK]. 23 September 2001. "People Trafficking: Europe's New Problem." [accessed 15 Oct. 2001]

Migration News [Davis, California]. October 2000. Volume 7, No. 10. "UN: Millenium Declaration, Smuggling." [Accessed 15 Oct. 2001]

Nepszagbadzag [Budapest, in Hungarian]. 21 July 2000. "Hungary: Border Guard Leader Details Necessary Changes." (FBIS-EEU-2000-0721 21 Jul. 2000/WNC)

United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODCCP). 14 December 2000. "Aspects of UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime Discussed by 19 Government Representatives." [Accessed 18 October 2001]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sources including:

European Forum for Migration Studies (EFMS)

European Research Center on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER)

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF)

International Organization for Migrations (IOM)

Migration News [Davis, CA]

Radio Free Europe/radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

World News Connection (WNC)

Search Engines:

Google

Oral sources:

Unsuccessful attempts to reach two oral sources.