Hungary is facing fierce criticism over new rules to detain all asylum seekers in closed border camps built of shipping containers, and plans to tighten state control over civil society groups that often challenge prime minister Viktor Orban. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has fought a long battle to keep out migrants

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The Hungarian government has rejected accusations it used excessive force to expel migrants

Under the new measures, all asylum seekers entering Hungary - and those currently in the country - will be confined in camps built from shipping containers while their asylum applications are processed. EU member Hungary previously systematically detained all asylum applicants but suspended the practice in 2013 under pressure from Brussels, the UN refugee agency and the European Court of Human Rights. The UNHCR said Tuesday that the new legislation “will have a terrible physical and psychological impact on women, children and men who have already greatly suffered.”

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee said it was the “last stepping stone in completely disregarding (Hungary’s) asylum obligations under EU and international law and trampling the rights of asylum seekers.”

“We are urging the EU to step up and show Hungary that such illegal and deeply inhumane measures have consequences,” Amnesty International said. According to government officials, the new border camps will comprise converted shipping containers built onto existing "transit zones" erected in 2015 at the southern border with Serbia. Hungary has recently approved a series of measures to curb migration, including building a second fence on the border with Serbia, though NGOs estimate that there are only around 400 asylum-seekers in the country. The new system will also deter the EU from allowing the return of asylum seekers to Hungary under the bloc’s so-called Dublin regulation - an outcome Mr Orban may welcome, having portrayed Europe’s mostly Muslim migrants and refugees as a danger to its security and identity.
The National Assembly of Hungary approves the automatic detention of all asylum seekers who enter the country.