Stop sending migrants to Hungary, UN tells EU

In a rare move, the United Nations on Monday urged the European Union to stop transferring asylum-seekers to Hungary, criticising the country's new policy of holding men, women and children in containers.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees called on the EU to temporarily halt the transfer of asylum seekers under a complex EU rule known as the Dublin Regulation. This requires a migrant to apply for asylum in the first country of the bloc that they enter, and to be returned there if necessary.

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"The situation for asylum-seekers in Hungary, which was already of deep concern to UNHCR, has only got worse since the new law introducing mandatory detention for asylum-seekers came into effect," said UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi.