Hungarian Ex-Bouncer Helps Track Down Illegal Migrants For Deportation

A former bouncer in Hungary helps a controversial local mayor by tracking down illegal migrants who have made it across the fortified border.

The 38-year-old Hungarian ex-bouncer known only as “Tari” is an imposing man. Looking like a cross between a Viking and a strongman competitor he was a natural choice to mind nightclub doors.

Tari has now found himself a new job, helping a controversial local Hungarian mayor hunt for illegal migrants who have managed to cross the heavily fortified border and return them to the police who can then deport them, reports Die Welt.

Tari works for László Toroczkai, a mayor who has declared a personal war against illegal migration. Last year Mr. Toroczkai released a video as a warning to illegal migrants not to enter the central European nation.

The video, which was styled as a summer Hollywood blockbuster trailer, showed the mayor along with local police on horseback, in police cars, and helicopters as to showcase the resources Mr. Toroczkai possesses to catch illegal migrants.

While the mayor has access to a police force which includes modern equipment, the largest human resource he has is Tari. Though he is eager to help catch migrants, Tari insists that he does not use violence, which counters claims made by migrants in Belgrade who were rejected by Hungarian border guards and deported. The migrants, via a migrant rights association, claimed that the authorities were beating them before deporting them from Hungary.

“I run after them and catch them with my hands,” Tari told German media and claimed that most of his time is spent waiting in bushes along known migrant routes. The day he was interviewed Tari was forced to admit he hadn’t caught any migrants but mayor Toroczkai claims that he has been able to catch over 300 migrants in the month of June alone. The figures confirm reports that the Balkan route of migration is once again seeing a rise in traffic.

Tari and Mr. Toroczkai are just the latest to join a growing number of citizens who have taken it upon themselves to aid border police in catching illegal migrants who have slipped through border fortifications. In Bulgaria several civilian vigilante groups have been formed to track down migrants along the Turkish border, many with great success.

One group, named the Bulgarian Military Veterans Union wear camouflage gear and patrol the Turkish and Greek borders of Bulgaria, and state that they hand over migrants to the proper authorities once caught. Ex-PEGIDA leader Tatjana Festerling joined them for a day last month, and though they did not catch anyone she may face prosecution in her native Germany for aiding the group.