Communities respond to the challenges associated with the passage of war-ravaged migrants through their local area in a variety of ways. The sentiments of local communities are also communicated in many ways. This book studies the impact that migration has on the lives and minds of residents and officials involved in the operations. Between 2017 and 2020, the author conducted interviews with over fifty people who live and work near the Hungarian-Serbian border. This area was exposed to the unprecedented outflow of refugees, mostly seeking safety from the ongoing Syrian civil war. The Hungarian government's hostility to migrants has been widely written about and news coverage has tended to reiterate unhelpful characterizations of Hungarian citizens as being anti-migrant, anti-Muslim and just plain racist. The situation is, however, more nuanced. There is a substantial gap between the border police, local communities, and organizations, on the one hand, and national politicians and the international media perception of the refugee 'crisis', on the other.

The people living and working with migrants at the border seem caught between the domestic political situation, the plight of the refugees and the international support the latter receive, and the predicaments of their own livelihoods. This book explores these communities and their own security concerns.