Hungary Ramps Up Crackdown On Refugees

Hungary continued its pushback against the influx of refugees entering its borders on Monday.

After detaining a record 5,809 people on Sunday, Hungarian police detained an additional 3,280 on Monday morning. The arrests came as the country prepared to put harsh new immigration rules into effect.

Also on Monday, Hungarian police blocked off a rail line used by migrants and refugees as a key crossing point to enter Hungary from Serbia on foot, The Associated Press reports. Police sealed off the rail line with a cargo carriage, hoping to force those entering the country to use a nearby road checkpoint instead. Traffic on the rail line had been suspended for weeks because of the influx of people.

Last week, Hungary sped up construction of a 4-meter-high wire fence running along its border with Serbia. The fence is expected to be finished in early October, the government said. Anyone caught tampering with the fence will be punished under the new actions.

The government is sending soldiers to help patrol the fence. According to Bloomberg, the troops cleared one of the facilities near the Serbian border on Monday, sending people away on buses to unknown locations.

"Authorities cannot be forgiving of illegal border-crossing," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.

Orban praised police efforts even as video emerged showing officers throwing food at hungry people inside an overcrowded refugee camp. The video sparked widespread criticism of Hungary's treatment of refugees.

Hungary's hardline stance echoes other Eastern European countries; Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have also spoken out against the EU's proposed refugee quotas.

EU leaders were meeting in Brussels on Monday to further discuss the resettlement plans.

Related on HuffPost: