Thursday, June 21, 2018

Hungary goes further right

Dubbed the "Stop Soros" laws after Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros, accused by the government of orchestrating migration to Europe Hungary's parliament adopted laws which will  punish up to a year in prison for anyone convicted of helping a person who entered Hungary illegally from outside the Schengen zone, and whose life wasn't in immediate danger.  The latest changes come in addition to a measure passed with a finance bill on Tuesday slapping a 25-percent tax on NGOs suspected of helping migrants.
it also approved a change to the constitution stipulating that no authority is allowed to affect "the make-up of the Hungarian population", a clause designed to prevent Hungary participating in any EU scheme for mandatory refugee resettlement and it included a constitutional obligation for all state institutions to "defend Christian culture".
And for good measure, it banned homeless people spending the night in public spaces.
Amnesty International, which could find itself targeted under the laws passed called them "a brazen attack on people seeking safe haven from persecution and those who carry out admirable work to help them. It is a new low point in an intensifying crackdown on civil society and it is something we will resist every step of the way." 
The UN children's agency UNICEF pointed out Hungary plays host to less than one percent of registered child asylum seekers in Europe and that hobbling NGOs that help them could lead to "further harm to children who have already been forced to leave their homes, often experiencing traumatic journeys, and will perpetuate dangerous misconceptions rooted in racism and discrimination".
But, of course, SOYMB notes the way Hungarians conveniently forget the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the Russians in 1956 and how the rest of the world aided and helped them to reach safe havens.

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