“The Hungarian people are sympathetic towards the world’s suffering Christians and support the Government’s efforts”, State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians and the Realisation of the Hungary Helps Program Tristan Azbej from the Prime Minister’s Office said at a workshop discussion in Budapest to present the results of the latest survey on the subject.
At the workshop, the State Secretary said: “It is a great reinforcement that society supports the Government’s efforts”. “We received the most proof with regard to the fact that the Hungarian people are sympathetic towards Christians suffering in far-away countries”, he declared, citing the latest survey by the Nézőpont Institute, according to which two thirds of Hungarians support the Government’s humanitarian politics, adding that in addition to solidarity, the majority of Hungarians are assessing their own interests correctly with relation to migration policy, i.e. that “assistance must be taken to where the trouble is”.
The State Secretary said the second international conference on the persecution of Christians will be held in late November. The conference is aimed at laying the foundations for true humanitarian action. The plan is to establish an international alliance with the participation of governments, international non-governmental organisations and some of the European Union’s and UN’s programmes, and to find a solution to “the greatest and most overlooked” human rights crisis of our age, he stated.
Mr. Azbej pointed out that in 2016 Hungary was the first to raise the issue of aiding persecuted Christians to government level.
According to research, over 245 million people around the world are being discriminated against or are being persecuted because of their Christian faith, and over 4,100 Christians were murdered in related incidents last year alone, he said.
Mr. Azbej also spoke about the fact that the Hungary Helps Program is not only aiding persecuted Christians, but the Hungarian Government was the first to think of specifically helping the situation of Christian people.
With relation to the Program, the State Secretary said that the Government believes in providing direct aid, and accordingly donations are provided directly to Christian communities. “Our aim in doing so is to protect the lives, environments and livelihoods of people who are part of those communities”, he stated.
The State Secretary also said that the largest expenditure with relation to the program involves reconstruction, in addition to which the Government is also offering scholarship places to enable young Christians from persecuted backgrounds to study at Hungarian universities. “There are currently some 170 such scholarship students, and the goal if for them to contribute to the reinforcement of their communities upon returning home after graduation”, Mr. Azbej said.
He also pointed out that in addition to wanting to show solidarity, it is also in Hungary’s financial interests to take assistance to where it is needed, in view of the fact that it requires much fewer resources to help people remain in place than it does to fund immigration.