Heti Válasz: Orbán secretly awaits thousands of Ukrainian migrant workers

Weekly news magazine Heti Válasz writes that tens of thousands of Ukrainian migrant workers may arrive to Hungary in the near future, and the legislations making it possible have already been prepared. There is only one critical condition for this to happen: migrant workers intending to come to Hungary must be working in shortage occupations, 24.hu wrote.

The weekly magazine claims that the Hungarian government has already laid the groundwork for the arrival of Ukrainian migrant workers with secretly amended legislations. The magazine also says that the government is deliberately silent on the issue because they do not want to create confusion before the migrant quota referendum.

In case the referendum was not valid, helping Ukrainians fleeing warfare on the other side of the border could be used as a trump card by the government; it could say that, though not by receiving Muslim people, it is actively involved in helping refugees.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán already raised the issue of providing shelter for a hundred thousand Ukrainians in need two years ago, but the opposition did not find them back then, writes the weekly magazine, which has called the Ukrainians “strange refugees”.

Hungary received only sixty official asylum applications by last summer, while some five hundred properties were purchased in the Ukrainian border city of Kispalád. Furthermore, the Zakarpattia region (southwestern Ukraine) is flooded with Hungarian job advertisements; yet, the government supports not only the Hungarians living across the border, but Ukrainian nationals as well.

Heti Válasz has also gathered the changes promoting the employment of the Ukrainian migrant workers, for example that they can apply for the Family Housing Allowance (CSOK) in case of lasting employment, or that they do not have to obtain a working permit if specialised in shortage occupations.

According to the magazine, the list including the shortage occupations is compiled by the Minister of national economy annually and currently thirty-seven occupations belong there. It adds that only those occupations can be listed for which no application has been submitted before, or there will be a huge demand, foreseeably.

translated by Gábor Hajnal

Copy editor: bm

Source: http://24.hu