The United Nations' global refugee agency on Tuesday condemned as illegal a new Hungarian law to round up asylum seekers and hold them at containment camps near its borders.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees renounced the plan after Hungary's parliament passed the legislation -- a measure officials say is a safeguard against potential extremist attacks.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the law is a security response to recent European attacks that were perpetrated by insurgents posing as political refugees.
"The migration flow has only slowed, but it is not over," he said at a swearing-in ceremony for hundreds of new border guards. "We have gained time to strengthen our lines of defense."
