UNHCR concerned with Hungarian government plan

The Central European office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has spoken out against a growing expression of xenophobia in Hungary. It raises concerns over efforts by the Hungarian government to paint refugees as a threat to the country in leading questions being asked during a so-called national consultation.

“We are deeply concerned by the way the government increasingly vilifies people who have fled from war zones like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and who desperately need safety and protection in Hungary,” a UNHCR statement quotes Montserrat Feixas Vihé, the organization’s Regional Representative for Central Europe based in Budapest.

While UNHCR respects the right of every country to consult its citizens in any way it chooses, the refugee agency says it is concerned about the wording of a questionnaire that is being sent to eight million Hungarians over the age of 18. UNHCR believes the questions intentionally attempt to confuse refugees and asylum-seekers with so-called ‘economic migrants’ and wrongly blame refugees for a number of purported threats to Hungary and Europe.

“For example, question nine of the national consultation suggests that Hungary should be allowed to return people to their countries immediately if they entered Hungary irregularly. It is very important to remember that among the people who enter Hungary – in whatever manner — are refugees whose lives are in danger in their own countries. These people left their country the same way 200,000 people left Hungary in 1956,” the statement says

As Feixas Vihé stated, “we call on Hungary, as a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, to respect the international laws it voluntarily pledged to honor… Hungary simply cannot return refugees to countries where they would face threats to their lives.”

This year some 13,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in Hungary from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, three countries plagued by war and instability, the statement points out.