Rights Official Slams Hungary’s Refugee Policy

  • 14 Jan 2016 8:00 AM
Rights Official Slams Hungary’s Refugee Policy
Hungarian laws on refugees fully correspond to international regulations, Foreign Affairs Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a Wednesday statement in response to observations made by Nils Muiznieks, human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe. Muiznieks said Hungarian refugee proceedings are too swift and lack the necessary safeguards.

Refugees returned to Hungary from Austria do not have their applications for asylum examined fairly due to Hungarian legislation that considers Serbia a safe third country, Muiznieks said.

Szijjártó, currently visiting Vietnam, issued a statement saying that Hungary provides asylum to everybody who is eligible, but “asylum-seekers do not have a basic human right to roam across Europe and decide where they want to live”.

He emphasised the government’s view that those who pass through safe countries are not refugees but economic immigrants.

In a new rhetorical twist, Szijjártó said anti-refugee sentiment is stirred up by sexual crimes committed in Cologne and other cities, not by Hungarian authorities.

Hungary provided board and lodging to 391,000 illegal immigrants last year, Szijjártó also wrote. Last year Hungary recognised 502 asylum seekers as refugees, 0.1% of those registered.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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