Reader From Budapest Explains Hungary's Refugee Predicament

In response to US Role in Europe's Refugee Crisis; Migration in Numbers a reader Peter from Budapest explains Hungary's predicament in the European refugee mess. Peter Writes ....

Hi Mish,

I writing to you from Budapest. Let me give you a brief take on the refugee crisis.

There's been an average influx of about a 1000 or more people on Hungary's Southern border for the past several month. This number is rising.

By EU/Schengen rules, refugees must register before they can go on. Countries that do not abide by the rules risk their Schengen status.

Moreover, if Hungary simply sends them on, the refugees can legally be sent back to Hungary.

In short, unless the migrants' route towards Germany is cleared, they are quite possible Hungary's problem. Hungary has a population of about 10 million people, and by the end of August, the number of refugees surpassed 120,000.

In short, the Hungarian government is between a rock and a hard place. It may seem the solution is  to send them on, but as explained above, this can backfire.

Cheers,
Peter

The main points of entry are Hungary, Greece, and Italy and those countries are the ones struggling most under the weight of existing rules.

The heart of the matter is open borders. The borders should be open to every country in the EU, but to open the borders to all takers from Syria, African nations, etc., is 100% guaranteed to cause a problem.

And it has. Australia's solution was to send them back. Europe eventually faces the same decision.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock