next Image 1 of 2

prev Image 2 of 2

Hungary has deported a family of six asylum-seekers to Serbia, making them cross a gate in the border fence in the dark, with no one waiting for them on the Serbian side.

The nighttime circumstances of Tuesday's deportation were considered very unusual and were witnessed by staff from the U.N. refugee agency.

The family was taken from a transit zone for asylum-seekers to the border gates aboard a police truck.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, which gives legal assistance to asylum-seekers, said they had secured an interim measure to stop the deportation of one of two other Afghan families also awaiting a similar fate.

The family sent back to Serbia, parents and four children, had been given the option of returning to Serbia or being flown from Budapest to Afghanistan.