The UN human rights commissioner has declared war against the Hungarian government for seeking to ensure the security of the Hungarian people in the face of illegal migration, the foreign minister said.
Péter Szijjártó responded to Zeid Raad al-Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who criticised the immigration policies of America, China, Myanmar and Hungary during Monday’s opening of the 38th session of the World Human Rights Council (you can view his speech in its entirety here).
The high commissioner criticised Hungary for the “Stop Soros” bill which seeks to impose restrictions on organisations that aid refugees and penalise human rights monitoring at borders and their surrounding areas. In his statement, the commissioner said that it would be essential that independent monitoring bodies – including not only all international human rights bodies, but also national human rights institutions and civil society – be able to monitor the human rights situation of migrants without fear or obstruction, adding that
These prohibitions, and related measures adopted by the Government of Hungary in recent months, stigmatize and harm migrants in vulnerable situations and those who seek asylum, as well as punishing the admirable work of human rights defenders who seek to help them.
Szijjártó said he would “apprise the high commissioner of the facts”, namely that more than 330 people had died in the last three years and more than 1,300 people had been injured in Europe “due to the attacks of terrorists with a migrant background”. The minister said
illegal migration was considered a national security issue. The “Stop Soros” bill aims to stop and punish everyone who organises illegal migration with a view to “flooding Europe with migrants”.
via hungarymatters.hu, ohchr.org
featured image: Euronews