Amnesty International report critical of Hungary

Budapest, February 22 (MTI) – Human rights organisation Amnesty International (AI) presented a section of its recently published global report, concerning Hungary, at a press conference on Wednesday. 

Amnesty called Hungary the most “disappointing” in the European region from a human rights point of view, with the gravest problems arising from the country’s policy towards refugees and asylum seekers, Júlia Iván, AI Hungary’s director, said. For years, Hungary has done everything to avoid providing protection to people fleeing from persecution, she added.

“As populism takes mainstream politics by storm, its practitioners use scapegoating and fearmongering for propaganda purposes,” Iván said.

Apart from its immigration policy, Hungary’s approach to human rights issues is worrisome in areas such as its declaration of a state of crisis in connection with migration, the government’s “crackdown on NGOs, the curbing of the freedom of speech and freedom of the press and discrimination against the Roma,” she insisted.