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The Hungarian parliament has passed new legislation that criminalises lawyers and activists who help asylum seekers.
Anyone “facilitating illegal immigration” will face a year in jail. Viktor Orban’s government has dubbed the legislation the “Stop Soros law”, after the billionaire philanthropist it accuses of supporting Muslim migrants.
The vote in Budapest came hours after a number of European Union leaders agreed to hold crisis talks on how to overhaul asylum rules. Hungary said immigration threatens its national security, but its hardline stance and new law have faced widespread international criticism.
The United Nations refugee agency urged Hungarian officials to scrap the proposed law and legal experts from the Council of Europe human rights organisation appealed for the vote to be postponed until they had submitted a review of the measures on Friday.
A report by the Council’s Venice Commission leaked to the BBC said the Hungarian legislation “criminalises organisational activities which are not directly related to the materialisation of the illegal migration”. The new legislation amends eight existing laws and introduces one new crime of “facilitating illegal immigration”.
Under the new law, anyone could be jailed for working for or with non-governmental organisations that are involved in helping or campaigning for asylum seekers. Human rights groups insist all they are trying to do is help people who have been allowed in Hungary legally apply for asylum.
