LMP calls for electronic monitoring of asylum-seekers

Budapest, September 13 (MTI) – The opposition LMP party announced its proposals on Sunday for tackling the migrant crisis, among them the idea that asylum-seekers should be tracked electronically after a month of starting their asylum procedures.

Andras Schiffer, head of the party’s parliamentary group, told a press conference on Sunday that 15 of their 24 proposals concern domestic measures for tackling the problem, including increasing capacities in the police force and the asylum system. Other proposals call for more responsibilities for the state to inform citizens and the notion that asylum-seekers should be tracked with electronic bracelets if their request is not processed within a month.

LMP would increase the budget of the Immigration Office three-fold to 25 billion forints and make it their obligation to offer medical support in refugee camps. Police funding should be upped by 10 billion forints to deploy 3,000 more police officers to migration-related tasks, Schiffer said.

He said the government should report to parliament about progress in connection with the migrant issue every six months. LMP would widen the powers of authorities to take finger prints and facial images of migrants. The party called for transfer services between transit zones and Austria for migrants. It also called for more severe punishment for human smugglers.

Under another proposal, only representatives of registered churches would be allowed to visit transit zones in Hungary, “so as to prevent extremists sects and ‘garage’ mosques from exerting influence”, he said. He said the United States and Canada should also take part in the proposed quota system that would share out migrants.

Ruling Fidesz said in response that LMP does not have its own immigration policy and has sided fully with other parties on the left.

The party said in a statement that Schiffer voted in the same way as Socialist leader Jozsef Tobias and Democratic Coalition leader Ferenc Gyurcsany did on several migration related issues.

“The Hungarian left, similarly to European left liberals, would open the door wide for anyone to enter Hungary, as well as the EU. This is unacceptable since Europe is incapable of taking everybody,” the party said in a statement.

The Democratic Coalition (DK) said LMP’s proposal for e-bracelets for asylum seekers is unacceptable. “LMP follows in the footsteps of Viktor Orban with this proposal, using methods on war-suffered families that are usually applied to criminals,” Zsolt Greczy, the party’s spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday. “This is exactly the same kind of policy that would put refugees to prison. It is a fine-tuned version of that,” the statement said.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters