Thousands of Turkish, Pakistani guest workers will swarm Debrecen?

Based on information from the locals, the new BMW plant of Debrecen will employ thousands of Turkish, Pakistani and other guest workers. Zsolt Gondola, a counsellor of an NGO, Civilian Forum Association (Civil Fórum Egyesület), thousands of guest workers will come and live temporarily in a container city. The Fidesz-KDNP leadership of the Hungarian municipality and opposition local council members are already battling with each other on the issue.

As we wrote before, BMW’s Debrecen plant will be the world’s first, running fossil-free. The construction costs almost 1 billion euros, and the work began this June. Based on the plans, the first electric BMW cars manufactured there will roll off the production line in 2024. However, it seems that the workers in the factory will not be Hungarians. Local news websites said thousands of Turkish and Pakistani employees would arrive in the second biggest city of Hungary soon, index.hu wrote.

A local opposition councillor, Zsolt Gondola, raised the question during the regular session of the local council. He asked how the Fidesz leadership of the city prepares for the thousands of guest workers. Zoltán Varga, an MP of the Democratic Coalition, criticised the project because the government’s original promises were about creating new workplaces for Hungarians.