NGOs Urge Response to Anti-Roma Patrols in Hungary

14 April 2011

Budapest, 14 April 2011: Today, the European Roma Rights Centre, Chance for Children Foundation, Amnesty International Hungary, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Legal Defence Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities urged Hungarian authorities to promptly react to renewed anti-Roma patrols by the paramilitary group Szebb Jövőért Polgárőr Egyesület (Civil Guard Association for a Better Future). The joint reaction was issued following the commencement of patrols in Hajdúhadház on 12 April 2011. In their reaction, the submitting organisation called on Hungarian political leaders to swiftly condemn anti-Roma violence and intimidation by Szebb Jövőért Polgárőr Egyesület and instruct Hungarian police to intervene to prevent and investigate any actions in violation of Hungarian law.

The full text of the reaction is available in English and Hungarian.