BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s immigration and asylum office says 94 of 102 asylum-seekers detained in a closed reception center have launched a hunger strike, demanding to be set free.
The asylum office said Monday that most of those in detention in the southeastern city of Bekescsaba were being held because they broke European Union asylum rules.
The office said in a statement to The Associated Press that the detainees receive regular updates on the status of their cases and that the situation at the center is calm.
The detainees also complained about Hungarian authorities taking their fingerprints since they aren’t seeking asylum in Hungary.
A law passed last week by parliament will allow the government to put all asylum-seekers in Hungary in container camps on the Serbian border.