Hungarian Government's New Decree Threatens Ukrainian Romani Refugees
24 July 2024
By Judit Ignácz
You can sign the petition here.
The recent decree by the Hungarian government, announced on 28th June 2024, threatens to expel tens of thousands of Ukrainian Romani refugees from their subsidized housing by 20th August 2024. The decree effectively ends housing subsidies that have been crucial for maintaining the stability and safety of families fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Without these subsidies, many Ukrainian Romani refugees will struggle to find affordable housing. This sudden policy shift puts already vulnerable families, including women and children, in an even more risky situation, forcing them to choose between homelessness in Hungary or returning to their war-torn country.
The new decree not only jeopardizes the safety and well-being of Ukrainian Romani refugees but also undermines Hungary's commitments to human rights and international obligations. As the world watches, it is imperative that the Hungarian government reconsiders this policy, ensuring that the rights and dignity of refugees are upheld.
The decree's impact is most severe on the Hungarian-speaking Romani refugees from Transcarpathia, a region in western Ukraine. These families, predominantly composed of women and children, will face immense difficulties in securing independent housing without the previously provided support. Many of these refugees have integrated into Hungarian society, with children attending local schools and parents finding jobs. This progress is now at risk of being undone by a policy that seems to disregard the human rights and dignity of those it affects. The sudden policy change disrupts their lives and poses significant challenges to their mental and emotional well-being.
Activists and civil society organizations have initiated a petition urging the Hungarian government to retract this harmful decree. They argue that the government’s decision contradicts its ‘pro-family’ stance and commitments as a member of the European Union, including providing protection and temporary residence permits to Ukrainian refugees. The petition highlights the terrible consequences of the decree, emphasizing that the loss of housing subsidies will force many families to make an impossible choice between returning to a dangerous conflict zone or facing homelessness in Hungary.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee also issued an open letter on 9th July to the government, highlighting the lack of response from the official responsible for refugee affairs. The letter outlines pressing questions that need urgent answers, such as how the government plans to prevent the forced separation of families and ensure that children can continue their education without disruption. It also questions the rationale behind the decree and calls for transparency and accountability in the government's decision-making process.
The Hungarian government faces a critical stage in its handling of refugee policies. The new decree not only jeopardizes the safety and well-being of Ukrainian Romani refugees but also undermines Hungary's commitments to human rights and international obligations. Failure to address these concerns could result in severe humanitarian consequences, further worsening Hungary's reputation on the global stage and impairing the rights of already vulnerable refugee populations.
Since the outbreak of the war on 24th February 2022, the ERRC and its partners have engaged in an unprecedented human rights monitoring mission across five countries bordering Ukraine (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova) and inside Ukraine. In 2023, it published its first report on human rights abuses, such as cases of segregation, violent attacks, ethnic profiling, and discrimination against Romani refugees from Ukraine in Europe. The results of this monitoring confirm beyond doubt previous accusations of discrimination against Romani refugees in several European countries. Another report detailing the state of the Ukrainian state care system for Romani children was released in August 2023, uncovering the extreme likelihood that Romani children formerly in state care are among the many thousands forcibly abducted by Russian forces. The report is based on research conducted by the ERRC, which includes interviews with Romani families, civil society activists, representatives of children’s services, and high-ranking officials.
Below is the translation of an open letter to the Hungarian Government by Hungarian activists:
To the Hungarian Government,
As members of civil society and often as volunteers, we have been working with the Hungarian minority of Transcarpathia since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We follow their daily lives and help them solve their integration, administrative, and housing problems.
However, the recent government decree published in the Hungarian Gazette (Magyar Közlöny) on the 28th of June puts the lives of tens of thousands of Hungarian-Ukrainian citizens at risk. It deprives them of subsidized housing from 20 August 2024, which is currently essential for maintaining the stable living situation of most families arriving from Ukraine.
This decree by the so-called “pro-family government” forces Hungarian-speaking families fleeing from Ukraine to live on the streets. Families with children.
One of the main messages of the government during the European and local elections was that all Hungarians would be protected and would not be sent to war. Yet now, the Hungarian government would send thousands of people fleeing from the war, back to Ukraine, sending men straight to the front. The government was counting on the votes of these people in the elections, but it is no longer providing them with help, and is even putting them in a hopeless, life-threatening situation.
Following the European elections, Hungary holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months from July 2024. Additionally, as a member state of the EU, Hungary has pledged to provide Ukrainian refugees with a temporary residence permit granting them asylum and protected status.
Throughout the years, the Orbán government has also sharply and consistently criticized Ukraine's anti-Hungarian, discriminatory measures, but is now doing the same with refugees from Transcarpathia.
This recent government decree has a particularly damaging effect on Hungarian-speaking Roma refugees from Transcarpathia, putting them in a seriously disadvantaged position. The majority of these families are women and children who, if the support is withdrawn, will not be able to maintain independent housing for themselves. They will have to choose between returning to a country at war or be homeless on the streets of Hungary.
The Hungarian government has pledged to protect Hungarian families in Transcarpathia, yet its decision tears families apart and puts them on the streets.
Thanks to the work of NGOs, integration processes in schools and the job market of refugees have been successful. Children have learned new patterns in education and learned how to live in Hungary, which this “pro-family government” can destroy in a second.
We call on the Hungarian Government to withdraw this decree and to keep its EU obligations to provide protection for refugees until the end of the war.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE!
Petitioners:
Márió Kiss
Magdolna Szécsi
