Hungary faced criticism for anti-immigrant policy. But it's opening its doors to Ukrainian refugees

Inside a sports hall in Budapest, Hungary, dozens of volunteers and aid workers stand ready to help the hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who pass through every day. 

After they unload from the shuttle buses and register, they can get a meal, a free SIM Card and, if they want, a train or bus ticket to take them to their next destination. 

If they stay, they can be put up in accommodation, like a school, a rented hotel room or a private home offered up by a Hungarian host. 

"I saw these children flooding from Ukraine with their mothers … and I really felt I [had] to do something," said Eszter Zombory-Balogh, 38, who is currently hosting eight Ukrainian refugees in a vacant apartment owned by her father.

"Hungary is not internationally seen as a refugee welcoming country because of our government. But this case is, I think, is different because …they are like us."

There is wide support among the public and politicians to open the doors to the Ukrainian refugees streaming in since Russia's invasion, even as there are reports that Hungary continues to push other migrants back over its heavily fortified southern border with Serbia.

The country's hardline prime minister, Viktor Orban, has been criticized by the EU and the United Nations Refugee agency for the government's anti-immigration policy toward would-be asylum seekers from countries like Syria and Afghanistan, but with a war just beyond its eastern border, Hungary's government, aid groups and private citizens have mobilized to help. 

So when Zombory-Balogh's father, Imre Balogh, agreed to offer up his vacant apartment, his daughter started collecting donations to furnish it and provide refugees with the essentials like clothes and food. 

She then went down to the train station looking for those who needed a place to stay. 

WATCH | A Ukrainian mother fled with her son to Hungary: 

She connected with Iuliia Sergeieva, 38, who works as a human rights advocate and lawyer. Sergeieva fled Kyiv, Ukraine, with her six-year-old son and was later joined by her mother and 93-year-old grandmother. 

"It was my hardest decision in my life to cross the border … my heart was tearing," Sergeieva said.

"It's a great luck meeting good people like Eszter and her family, which we are super grateful for."

More than 350,000 Ukrainian refugees have registered in Hungary, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.