(Vatican Radio) Hungary says it will soon open a third transit zone on its border with Serbia where refugees can apply for asylum amid concerns about a new influx of people fleeing war and poverty. The announcement came after the United Nations refugee agency urged the two countries to find a human solution to the situation of refugees camping in dire conditions at the border between the two countries.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said Hungary and Serbia should care for the hundreds of refugees who are stuck at the border, waiting to enter the European Union. The UNHCR Representative in Serbia, Hans Schodder, visited the small tent city Friday that has formed on the Serbian side of the razor-wire fence Hungary put up last year to keep out migrants.He expressed concern that the estimated 300 people are camping in an area without toilets and running water, relying on aid groups for food and water. Schodder declined to compare t...
(Vatican Radio) Hungary says it will soon open a third transit zone on its border with Serbia where refugees can apply for asylum amid concerns about a new influx of people fleeing war and poverty. The announcement came after the United Nations refugee agency urged the two countries to find a human solution to the situation of refugees camping in dire conditions at the border between the two countries.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said Hungary and Serbia should care for the hundreds of refugees who are stuck at the border, waiting to enter the European Union. The UNHCR Representative in Serbia, Hans Schodder, visited the small tent city Friday that has formed on the Serbian side of the razor-wire fence Hungary put up last year to keep out migrants.
He expressed concern that the estimated 300 people are camping in an area without toilets and running water, relying on aid groups for food and water. Schodder declined to compare the situation to the now-dismantled camp at the Greece-Macedonia border where thousands were stranded for months after the Balkan route effectively closed in March.
Hungarian authorities have let through about 20 people a day, mostly families with small children. However György Bakondi, the homeland security adviser to anti-migration Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, told reporters that a new transit zone is planned to be set up in the village of Asotthalom. "The number of migrants crossing the border illegally is growing.
The number of those waiting near the border is also increasing. Therefore we strengthen the fence near the village of Asotthalom..." he said. He added that "at the same time we are building a new transit zone there."
MAYOR NOT HAPPY
Yet Asotthalom Mayor László Toroczkai , of the far-right Jobbik party, said in a reaction that he was not happy about the plan although he supports government efforts to "stop the illegal migrants."
On the YouTube website he has placed a Hollywood-style video clip warning migrants not to enter Hungary illegally. "We welcome everyone who respects our laws and enters our country through our international border crossing point," he says in the clip, released last year. "But those who try to cross our border illegally may easily end up in prison." Soon viewers hear exciting music while seeing a fast driving car of the local rangers backed by a motor driver, a police helicopter and men on horses rushing towards a field where the mayor, wearing sun glasses, appears in front of angry looking men in uniforms.
Yet despite these efforts, Hungarian authorities have acknowledged that some 11,000 migrants have been detained for entering Hungary illegally this year alone, despite razor wire fences. And Hundreds of migrants are already waiting at two border transit zones - at Roszke and Kelebia - as Hungary is registering just 20 to 30 asylum-seekers a day at the makeshift registry points there.
The transit zones were set up late last year after Hungary greatly stemmed the flow of migrants toward Western Europe with the razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia.
null / Credit: Peter Hermes Furian via ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Apr 19, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on April 19 condemned the kidnapping and murder of a catechist in Burkina Faso, West Africa.In a news brief, ACN informed ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, that catechist Edouard Yougbare was kidnapped on Thursday night by "terrorists, and his lifeless body was found near Zigni this morning."According to other local sources, along with Yougbare, who was a member of Saatenga parish in Fada Gourma, Burkina Faso, more people were kidnapped and murdered."We are heartbroken by the loss of Yougbare. He served his community faithfully and his death is a devastating blow for the people of Saatenga," lamented Spaniard María Lozano, press and public relations director of ACN International."Catechists in Burkina Faso are on the front lines, risking their lives for the good of their people. Just two months ago, ano...
Pope Francis addresses the faithful at his Wednesday general audience on March 27, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Apr 19, 2024 / 10:07 am (CNA).In the latest move in Pope Francis' reform of the Vatican judiciary, the pope issued a new motu proprio on Friday on the retirement age and benefits for cardinal judges and magistrates in the Vatican's court system.The April 19 motu proprio states that Vatican magistrates will retire at the end of the judicial year in which they turn 75 and cardinal judges at the age of 80, unless Pope Francis asks them to remain in office beyond the age limit.Magistrates and judges who wish to resign from office before the retirement age can only do so with the approval of the pope.The pope also has the prerogative to dismiss magistrates unable to fulfill their duties at any time. Upon the termination of their duties, magistrates will retain the rights to assistance and welfare provided to Vatican citizens and employees.The motu proprio, wh...
Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow announced on April 14, 2024, the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017. / Credit: The Helena Kmiec FoundationACI Prensa Staff, Apr 19, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow, Poland, announced the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017.The prelate said that after the preliminary phase began in December 2022, he made the decision to officially open the process for Kmiec after having consulted the Polish Bishops' Conference and receiving the go-ahead from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints."With this edict I call on all those who have any document, letter, or information about the Servant of God, both positive and negative, to send them to the Metropolitan Curia of Krakow before June 30," the archbish...