Hungary's new law “Stop Soros” will restrict those who help illegal intruders to avail easy asylum
Budapest, June 23: Though there are many countries providing shelter to the refugees by allowing them to enter into their territory, many don’t. Taking a huge step with an aim to stop illegal immigrants, Hungary has introduced a series of a law named as “Stop Soros”.
Notably, the Hungarian lawmakers passed the bill “Stop Soros”, named after Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros to stop illegal immigrants entering in the country. George Soros was accused of supporting Muslim migrants. Hungarian lawmakers also passed a constitutional amendment stating that immigrants cannot be settled in Hungary.
The bill was drafted by Prime Minister Viktor Orban creates a new category of crime, called “promoting and supporting illegal migration”-essentially, banning individuals and organizations from providing any kind of assistance to undocumented immigrants.
The new law criminalizes any individual or group that offers to help an illegal immigrant claim asylum. According to the new law, the government could arrest someone who provides food to an undocumented migrant on the street or attends a political rally in favor of their rights. The law also restricts the ability of NGOs to act in asylum cases and was passed in defiance of the European Union and human rights groups.
Interior Minister Sandor Pinter in a justification attached to the draft legislation wrote, “The Hungarian people rightfully expects the government to use all means necessary to combat illegal immigration and the activities that aid it.” “The STOP Soros package of bills serves that goal, making the organization of illegal immigration a criminal offence. We want to use the bills to stop Hungary from becoming a country of immigrants,” he added.
However, the new law of Hungary has brought worldwide criticism too. The UN refugee agency on Friday urged Hungarian officials to scrap the proposed law and legal experts from the Council of Europe human rights organisation appealed for the vote to be postponed until they had submitted a review of the measures.
BACKGROUND:
Hungarian statistics show 3,555 refugees living in Hungary, a country of 10 million, as of April. Only 342 people were registered as asylum seekers in the first four months of this year, mostly from the Middle East, and 279 were approved. In 2015, 177,000 people sought asylum in Hungary but only a few hundred were accepted. Last year, the number of asylum claims fell to around 3,200.