Refugees have been coming through Hungary for quite a while now but we had never seen anything like what we experienced in August and September 2015. In partnership with the Hungarian Pentecostal Church in Hungary, HGMI?s charity and aid arm, GypsyAid set up an operative base at the refugee collection point outside Röszke, Hungary, less than a kilometer from the Serbian border. GypsyAid is committed to coordinate help in the long term.

Hungary is situated on one of the major refugee/migrant routes to the heart of the European Union. Over 300 thousand people crossed the border illegally in 2015 (until September 30). During the summer, the Government rushingly enacted legislation to more efficiently keep migrants ? and refugees ? out of the country, and erected a 175-km border fence on the Hungarian?Serbian border.

On September 14 afternoon, the border became much more difficult to cross, so our operations shifted from Röszke to Horgos, on the Serbian side. A few days later, people started to come again ? but this time via Croatia. About 35 thousand of them entered Hungary through the Croatian border in the next 7 days.

While there are a lot of young men that seemingly need little help, there are also lots of families with small children, even babies. Many places the refugees are warmly welcome by local people, but the general public?s attitude is rather adverse. It is expected that the flow of refugees will not stop for the winter and an even greater wave will bee coming next spring.

GypsyAid, in cooperation with the Hungarian Pentecostal Church and by the generous support of some local and international partners, distributed water, bananas, apples, biscuits, coffee and tea, tents, sleeping bags, shoes, clothes, blankets, backpacks, items of personal hygiene, and many other things as they were needed. A lot of volunteers joined our team, even non-Christians came after we had made a call for action.

Our quick response team will be serving in the refugee hot spots in and around Hungary as long as the need and support will be there.

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