International Law Is the Guide on Migration and Refugees, Stresses Foreign Minister

MTI-Hungary Today 2024.10.17.

Fence on the Hungarian-Serbian border.

Hungary is ready to play its part in preventing further illegal migration flows, and at the same time, ensuring adequate care for refugees, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday.

The politician noted at the UNHCR Executive Committee meeting that the world is currently living in an era of danger, with an increasing number of armed conflicts, the threat of terrorism and the spread of extremist ideologies, which are forcing an increasing number of people to flee their homes. This is clearly supported by the fact that the number of refugees has now exceeded 120 million globally.

He underlined the need to strengthen the UNHCR to ensure that refugees are properly cared for and that international law is respected to prevent further mass illegal migration and the stability of some states from being put at risk.

Hungary is ready to play its part in both respects,”

he confirmed.

Fact

The UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) is a global organization that leads international action to protect people fleeing conflict and persecution, as well as people who have been deprived of their citizenship. UNHCR was established in 1950, by the General Assembly of the United Nations in the aftermath of the Second World War to help the millions of people who had lost their homes. The organization is active in 136 countries. The UNHCR had been operating in Hungary for 35 years, employing some 660 people.

The Minister highlighted that Hungary, as the country currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, is also working with UNHCR to address the issue of statelessness, which is one of the reasons why people leave their homes.

Mr. Szijjártó then stressed that there is a very clear distinction between refugees and migrants in international law, even though these terms are often misused today. He noted that under international law, if a person is forced to leave his or her place of residence, he or she has the right to remain in the territory of the first safe country, but there is no question of “the right to remain in the second, third, fifth, or tenth safe country.”

He cited the example of Hungary, which has already spent over EUR 2 billion on tackling these problems, under the dual pressure of refugees and migrants.

On the one hand, some 1.4 million refugees from Ukraine have entered the country in the two and a half years of the war so far, and those who want to stay have equal access to education and healthcare, and the government is ready to help those from neighboring countries as long as necessary.

Hungary, on the other hand, has prevented around half a million illegal border crossings over the last three to three and a half years, protecting the EU’s external border.

The politician added that illegal migrants wanted to violate the borders, disrespecting the law, and some of them attacked police officers and guards. “This is also a clear violation of our sovereignty,” he underlined. “Therefore, I would like to say that under such double pressure, Hungary is committed to continue to protect its borders, to continue to insist on our sovereign right to decide for ourselves who we allow in and who we do not, who we are willing to live with and who we are not,” he said.

The Minister pointed out that Hungary would continue to provide all necessary assistance to refugees from Ukraine. “At the same time, we support all international initiatives aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine, because this is the only way to save the lives of the people of Ukraine, including the Hungarians living there,” he concluded.

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Via MTI; Featured image via Wikipedia/Bőr Benedek