GETTY Viktor Orban said the EU should round up and deport illegal immigrants

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The Hungarian Prime Minister, who has been at the forefront of a wave of anti-EU and anti-migrant sentiment, said those who arrive inside the bloc without permission should be held on an island off the North African coast. Just two weeks ahead of Hungary’s referendum asking people if they want to reject mandatory EU migrant quotas, Mr Orban said illegal immigrants “must be shipped out”. Under his controversial plans, migrants could file for asylum while waiting in EU-supervised camps.

Those who came illegally must be rounded up and shipped out Viktor Orban

He said: "This could be an island, it could be a coastal area in North Africa, but the security and supplies of that area must be guaranteed by the EU in its own interest. "Those who came illegally must be rounded up and shipped out. "We must set up large refugee camps outside the EU, with armed security and financial support provided by the Union.

GETTY Mr Orban said illegal immigrants “must be shipped out”

"Everyone who came illegally must return there. There they can file for asylum." The hardliner has managed to seal the Serbia-Hungary border shut to migrants in recent weeks as he drums up support for the October 2 referendum. To ease the burden on Italy and Greece, EU states agreed a year ago to distribute 160,000 people to elsewhere in the bloc under a quota system. WHO IS VIKTOR ORBAN?

AFP Hungary has registered more than 19,000 asylum applications this year

AFP EU states agreed to distribute 160,000 people to elsewhere in the bloc under a quota system

But Mr Orban’s government has opposed the quota, which could see 1,300 migrants resettled in Hungary. The Prime Minister said the camp was a "grave moral task" that was the only alternative to migrants staying in Europe and being relocated around the continent. Mr Orban said: "There is only one solution that befits everyone, including us who are not yet in trouble because we defended ourselves and countries like Germany which are in trouble: Taking migrants out of the Union."

BLOOMBERG It's believed more than 14,000 migrants have crossed Hungary's southern borders illegally

Migrant Crisis: Mass exodus from the migrant camp continues Tue, October 25, 2016 Hundreds of migrants are continuing to arrive in Europe as they flee the scenes of chaos and brutality of the Islamic State in the Middle East. Play slideshow 1 of 224

Mr Orban stressed that the external borders of the EU must be strengthened to prevent a repeat of 2015, which saw 9,000 migrants a day cross the border from Serbia to Hungary at the height of the crisis. He said: "Borders must be used, because they protect us. “Some imagine a globe without borders...I am one of those who would not like to see the civilisation of the world change."

BLOOMBERG Martin Schulz hit back at Mr Orban's suggestion