V4 ombudsmen sign joint declaration on refugees

Budapest, October 2 (MTI) – The ombudsmen of the Visegrad Group have signed a joint declaration concerning refugees and their human rights.

At the conclusion of their annual meeting on Friday in Visegrad, in northern Hungary, the ombudsmen of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia declared that it is the moral and legal obligation of European member states to take responsibility for refugees. The acutely serious situation caused by mass migration requires cooperation by all states — the four Visegrad countries included — in line with their obligations to uphold human rights, the document said.

Protecting members of the most vulnerable social groups is the fundamental duty of ombudsmen across Europe, it stated, adding that protection should be afforded to anyone who leaves their home country under duress, irrespective of their legal status.

Close to 60 million people around the world have been forced to leave their homes, many of them elderly or children. “They all need special protection.”

Every state must conduct a thorough, personally tailored examination when deciding on whether to grant asylum, the document said.

The signatories declared that they will seek to ensure that authorities in their countries treat every migrant and refugee in a humane and non-humiliating manner by observing laws, EU directives and international and European agreements.

The two-day meeting was attended by the Czech Republic’s Anna Sabatova, Hungary’s Laszlo Szekely, Poland’s Stanislaw Trociuk and Slovakia’s Jana Dubovcova.

Photo: MTI

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