Report: Prisoners helping build Serb border fence

Protestors symbolically destroy a fence outside Parliament during Tuesdayʼs demonstration.  (Photo: Jessica Fejos)

BV Holding Kft., a Hungarian company integrating prisoners into work, is “taking advantage of the convicted in an economic sense” and “enlists” prisoners in the manufacturing of parts of the fence, László Nagy, BV chief, reportedly told a reporter at Origo yesterday in Mórahalom, on the Serbian border.

According to Origo, three different types of sample fences are being built in Mórahalom  for testing purposes. According to Nagy, by tomorrow “everything will be erected”.

The Hungarian government has recently started building a wire fence on the Serbian border in order to keep illegal immigrants out of the country. The government has allocated HUF 6.6 billion for the project. Many humanitarian associations have been openly opposing the government’s decision, saying that Hungary is not threatened by illegal immigrants, but instead is seeing an influx of refugees, who are escaping war and possibly death and therefore need to be helped.

Approximately one thousand protesters descended on Szent István Square on Tuesday to denounce the building of the Hungarian-Serbian border fence. From there, protesters marched to the Hungarian Parliament, where a makeshift fence and stage had already been set up. This small wire fence was quickly torn down as a symbol of support for the refugees trying to cross the border.