Inside the 'Abysmal' Refugee Detention Camps in Hungary
Human Rights Watch reports there in insufficient space, food, and medical care.
— -- People kept in wire enclosures, chaotic crowds clamoring for food and guards interacting with the refugees and migrants while wearing surgical masks all contribute to the controversial conditions in Hungarian holding facilities.
American advocacy group Human Rights Watch has released footage from inside the Roszke detention centers near the Serbian border and described the situation as "abysmal."
"The detainees at Roszke are held in filthy, overcrowded conditions, hungry, and lacking medical care," Human Rights Watch emergencies director Peter Bouckaert said in a statement.
The group is calling for Hungarian authorities to improve access to food, water, shelter and medical care in the camps.
Representatives from Human Rights Watch visited the two hangars at the detention centers and described overcrowded conditions, insufficient bedding and space.
They interviewed some of the detainees who said they were not provided with interpreters and had "little or no information about the legal rules and safeguards governing their detention," according to the Human Rights Watch statement.
The new footage from inside the camps comes a day after an Austrian politician's wife released video showing Hungarian police officers throwing food at a crowd of refugees earlier in the week at the same detention camp, adding to the chaos of the situation.
For their part, the Hungarian police posted their own video on their YouTube channel which appears to show an orderly distribution of food and supplies to lines of calm detainees. Their video was posted on Sept. 9, before both videos.
