The wave of criticism from organisations around the world that campaign for the defence of human rights was not enough. The law sought by the Hungarian government, which introduces the systematic detention of migrants, entered into force on 28 March. Under the new legislation, all asylum seekers present in the European country will be held in two camps located on the border with Serbia (at Roszje and at Tompa).

"We are preventing migrants from moving freely in Hungary and in the EU"

The government of conservative Viktor Orbán has announced that this will make it possible to "prevent migrants whose status has not yet been clearly defined from moving freely within the national territory and within the European Union, in order to limit the associated security risks". Asylum seekers will therefore effectively be confined within facilities housing several hundred containers, until a response to their application has been provided.
Visiting Hungary at the very moment the legislation came into force, the European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, issued an appeal for "EU principles" on the rights of asylum seekers to be respected. Budapest has assured that the camps are equipped with every comfort and that migrants will be provided with three meals a day. In the meantime, however, the press will be barred from entering, which means that verifying the actual conditions of detention will be particularly difficult.