The refugee crisis in Europe continues to produce shocking images. A Hungarian camerawoman was filmed tripping and kicking refugees. She has been sacked as a result.
Petra László is the Hungarian camerawoman sacked by local broadcaster N1TV for tripping a man — a fleeing refugee — who was carrying a child in his arms.
Hundreds of refugees were trying to escape from police near the Hungarian village of Rőszke, close to the Serbian border, after being held in a reception centre in Hungary for days. László was filming the movement of refugees when she was caught on camera by German correspondent Stephan Richter tripping a man running with a child in his arms. The man falls heavily onto the child, crying out in distress. The camerawoman is then seen kicking people, including a young girl.
The video went around the world, forcing N1TV to sack László. On 8 September the broadcaster announced on its Facebook page:
"A colleague of N1TV behaved in an unacceptable manner today at the Rőszke reception centre. The camerawoman's employment contract has been terminated with immediate effect from today. We consider the matter closed."
The broadcaster is close to Jobbik, a Hungarian far-right party known for its antisemitic and anti-Roma sentiments. The spread of the footage sparked a social media campaign to condemn the camerawoman's behaviour, including the Facebook page Petra Laszlo Shame Wall.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is under pressure, urged by the leaders of other European countries to improve the way Hungary treats the thousands of refugees — mainly Syrian — who want to cross the country to reach the rest of the continent. More than 150,000 refugees have arrived in Hungary since the beginning of 2015. The government's response has been to build a fence four metres high and approximately 175 kilometres long along the border with Serbia. It has also tightened penalties against illegal immigration, blocking the passage of thousands of refugees to other European countries.