“The public debate of the Stop Soros legislative package began on 18 January and is still ongoing; over the past two weeks over four hundreds suggestions have been submitted, the majority of the opinions received so far are supportive, and in fact some of them propose further restrictions”, Minister of State for Government Communication Bence Tuzson said at a press conference in Budapest on Sunday.
According to one proposal, organisations that assist illegal migration should pay a much higher duty, possibly several times the 25 percent included in the legislative proposal, in addition to which the tightening of the Penal Code was also suggested, as was the fact that groups of this nature should only be able to have Hungarian bank accounts and that, in accordance with the American model, they should be registered as foreign agents, he told reporters. The opinions and proposals will be summarised and presented to the Cabinet, and the final draft of the bill will be put before Parliament in February, he said.
The Minister of State said the goal of the legislative package was to “enact and enforce the overwhelming opinion of the people, and to take further steps to stop migration”.
As part of the proposed legislation, organisations that assist migration would have to register themselves and report in detail on both their funding and activities, he explained.
The organisations would have to pay a special duty on funding they receive from abroad to facilitate migration, in addition to which the new regulations would introduce the institution of immigration restraining orders, which could be issued against people who organise or finance migration, the Minister of State said.
He mentioned that the Menedék - Hungarian Association for Migrants organisation that used to employ LMP co-leader Bernadett Szél has asked for the legislative package to be withdrawn, but the Government has no plans to do so and continues to await people’s opinions and suggestions with relation to the issue.
“Hungary will always be a country into which illegal immigrants are not allowed entry and cannot be admitted; the security fence along the country’s southern borders will stay up while the current government is in place. This does not mean that Hungary or the Government is not conforming to its international obligations”, Mr. Tuzson said in reply to a question.