The Central Europe spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR claimed putting up fences along Hungary’s borders is “not going to be the answer” to the migrant crisis.
Almost 11,000 people have been detained by Hungarian authorities this year for breaching the razor-wire border fence the country shares with Serbia and Croatia.
Around 100 people a day are choosing to take the dangerous ground route to Europe through Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia instead of attempting to cross the sea from Turkey to Greece.
Babar Baloch said: “Putting up a fence in the way of a refugee population is not going to be the answer, it has not solved the problem itself.
“Whatever the approach the Hungarian government is taking, it is not helping itself, the refugees or the EU.”
But Hungarian authorities have hit back at the claims their measures have failed, saying the number of illegal crossings “fell drastically” this year.
Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said: “The temporary security border seal, commonly called the fence, has lived up to expectations, since after its construction the number of illicit border crossings fell drastically.”
Police figures suggest that the number of migrants and refugees detained by Hungary between January and April fell by almost 37,000 this year to 10,300.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, who has defended his country’s use of border fences, has described the influx migrants as an “invasion” threatening Europe’s security.
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