Hungary is considering tougher measures to discourage those fleeing poverty from seeking refugee status after the number of asylum seekers jumped 126 percent in 2014, MTI reported, citing Immigration Agency director Zsuzsanna Vegh.
The number of asylum requests rose to 42,777 last year from 18,900 in 2013 and 2,157 in 2012, Vegh told reporters in Budapest today, according to MTI, the state news service. Most of the migrants crossed into Hungary from Serbia while others entered via Ukraine or Romania, MTI said.
