Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has told Hungarian news agency MTI that Hungarian asylum regulations are in complete compliance with international requirements. He was responding to a statement on Hungary by Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe (CoE) Nils Muiznieks.
Mr. Muiznieks wrote that Hungarian asylum regulations and practices are not line with European human rights norms, and that practically no one is granted international protection in Hungary.
In his statement, Minister Szijjártó pointed out that in 2015 Hungary provided accommodation and care to 391,000 illegal migrants. He explained that “Hungary provides shelter to all who are truly entitled to it. However, Hungary is not a neighbouring country of Syria. There is no human right which allows for asylum seekers to travel across half of Europe to decide for themselves where they want settle. People who cross a series of safe countries are not refugees, but economic migrants.”
Reacting to another comment by Mr. Muiznieks, Mr. Szijjártó wrote that anti-migrant feeling is not being incited by the Hungarian authorities, but by sexual assaults and thefts in Cologne and other European cities. “To put it mildly, it is somewhat doubtful that people who attack and sexually assault women in gangs can be integrated”, the statement reads.