Refugees held at 'Alien Holding Centre' in Hungary

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Penned in with 13ft fences topped with razor wire: Migrants treated like prisoners in new 'Alien Holding Center' as Hungary rounds up unrelenting wave of refugees across its border
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Stark facility near Serbian border described as a 'registration centre' where migrants can be held for some 24 hours
One Syrian man, speaking through the fence, said he had not received any papers or been told when he could leave
Opened near another camp where migrants revolted, breaking through wooden barriers and fleeing for motorway

Published: 10:14 EST, 7 September 2015 | Updated: 12:32 EST, 7 September 2015

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Hungarian police have herded hundreds of migrants into a stark 'Alien Holding Centre' surrounded by 13ft fences topped with razor wire in a new security clampdown on the unrelenting influx from Serbia.

The new facility was described by authorities as a 'registration centre' where migrants can be held for some 24 hours and is part of a stepped-up effort to channel the thousands of migrants pouring across Balkan borders every day.

It was not clear whether they would have their asylum applications processed there, be sent back to their home countries or allowed to continue their journey to other EU nations like Austria and Germany.

Under European Union rules, migrants are obliged to register in the first EU country they enter and remain there until their asylum requests are processed.

But these regulations have been thrown into disarray in recent weeks, with governments becoming overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new arrivals.

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Penned in: Syrian migrants cling to the 13ft-high fence inside a new camp in Roszke, Hungary, which has been set up to register migrants

Hungarian police has herded hundreds of migrants into the new 'Alien Holding Centre' on its southern border in a new security clampdown

Hungary said last week it was trying to stick to the rules when it barred migrants from trains bound for western Europe, creating a huge backlog that on Friday became too much for overstretched police.

But late on Friday, as Hungary began to deploy a huge convoy of buses, Austria said it had agreed with Germany 'in this case' to allow the migrants to continue their journeys. It was unclear how long that leniency would last.

Most migrants say they want to reach wealthy Germany, which has already said it expects to receive 800,000 asylum seekers this year.

The right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of Europe's most vociferous critics of mass immigration to Europe, has vowed to cut illegal border crossings to zero as of September 15, with a 108-mile barrier and stringent new laws.

He has also asked parliament to approve sending in the army.

Locked in: The new facility was described by authorities on Sunday as a 'registration centre' where migrants can be held for some 24 hours

Scared: Syrian boys peer out through the 13ft-high fences which are topped with razor wire inside the new refugee camp in Roszke, Hungary

Stark: Hundreds of new arrivals were rounded up and sent to the new camp nestled among trees just inside Hungary near the town of Roszke

Orban's government has shrugged off the symbolism and Cold War echoes – noted by critics in western Europe – of razor-wire barriers and watchtowers along borders in formerly Communist eastern Europe.

In the south of Hungary, hundreds of new arrivals wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags against an early autumn chill were rounded up and sent to a new camp nestled among trees just inside Hungary near the town of Roszke.

Police dubbed it an 'Alien Holding Centre' and said it contained 100 large, green heated tents for 1,000 people.

It was opened at the weekend and located near another, older camp where migrants have revolted in recent days, breaking through wooden barriers and fleeing for the nearby motorway.

Migrants have complained about conditions at the older camp, which was frequently overcrowded.

'Do you know where they are taking us?' a man named Ahmed, from the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, asked a Reuters journalist. 'It's very cold at night and I am worried how long they will keep us here.'

Another Syrian man, Omar, speaking through the fence, said he had been sent to the camp on Saturday and had not received any papers or been told when he would be allowed to leave.

Echoes of the Cold War: Police dubbed it an 'Alien Holding Centre' and said it contained 100 large, green heated tents for 1,000 people

Under close watch: The camp was opened at the weekend and located near another, older centre where migrants have revolted in recent days, breaking through wooden barriers and fleeing for the nearby motorway

Human rights groups, however, are growing nervous at plans unveiled by the government and approved by parliament last week for another type of camp, dubbed 'transit zones'.

To be located in a narrow border strip, migrants would be held in such camps while their asylum applications are processed and, if denied, would be ejected back into Serbia.

The government says migrants held there will not technically be deemed as having entered Hungarian territory, creating a legal limbo which rights groups say may affect their rights and Hungary's obligations towards them.

Migrants deemed to have crossed illegally or damaged the border fence face possible jail sentences, under new laws adopted last week.

'It sounds very, very, very horrible,' said Marta Pardavi of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee rights watchdog. 'It's an out-of-sight, out-of-mind scenario - facilities that completely lack transparency to the public.'

EU asylum rules, known as the Dublin Regulation, require people seeking refuge to do so in the European country where they first set foot

Migrants and police are seen inside the camp in Roszke, Hungary. Estimates suggest 5,000 migrants will cross the Hungarian border today

Police stand outside the refugee camp in Roszke. The Hungarian government has shrugged off the symbolism and Cold War echoes – noted by critics in western Europe – of razor-wire barriers and watchtowers along borders in formerly Communist eastern Europe

Orban told Serbia last week to 'be prepared' for September 15 and the former Yugoslav republic called for EU cash to help address what may turn into a dangerous human bottleneck.

Hungary says it has no choice, having registered 165,000 migrants entering this year who had coursed up the Balkan peninsula after boat and dinghy journeys from Turkey to Greece and then overland through Macedonia and Serbia.

Orban has painted Europe's worst refugee crisis since the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s as a threat to European prosperity, identity and 'Christian values'. Countless more may have entered undetected.

Greece, which saw a record 50,000 hit its shores in July alone, has taken to ferrying them from inundated islands to the mainland, over 13,000 since Monday.

On Thursday last week, over 5,000 crossed from Greece into Macedonia, indicating the kind of influx Austria and Germany can expect on a daily basis as long as they keep their borders open.