I'll copy what I wrote then here. It is a longer piece, but the main message is short and simple. The situation could have been and can be solved. All that is needed is to stay calm and act professionally. What we have learned from the 20th century should be that as soon as we notice that politicians are simply trying to secure their position by fear-mongering and hate campaigns against immigrants, it is time for them to go. If they don't want to, we should make them. After all they are supposed to represent us and we - the citizens - lend them our power and authority. They would be nil without that, and without our money.
A calmer account of the treatment of
refugees in Hungary
The
current situation in Hungary is that there have been more than a 170 000 people
entering the country through the Southern border this year without any permit.
This has caused substantial panic amongst politicians and shown that many of
the Hungarian and EU regulations and measures in place are inadequate to handle
a situation when whole countries collapse – as is the case with Syria and Libya
now. Those displaced are counting on the European countries. Their hopes are
encouraged by the fact that most countries in the region have repeatedly claimed
to be exemplars of solidarity, democracy, and that they are seriously concerned
with protecting human rights.
The
media and the politicians have also been occasionally confused about the
situation, not talking about the issues at hand, but about irrelevant topics or
generating fear instead of seeking practical solutions. Of course nobody in
Europe wants to accept higher risk of terror or living with extremists. But
this does not call for panic and exclusion, but for increased and better
security and more advanced methods of social, educational, and personal
integration. The Hungarian government has been both one of the most vocal
participants in this debate and one of the most often criticised ones. So,
let’s just stop for a second and ask ‘What is going on in Hungary?’
But
before a detailed discussion of the government’s actions I have to shortly
address the role and behavior of two groups within Hungary: The police forces
and the volunteers working at both the registration camps by the Southern
border and at the transit zones in Budapest and the Austrian border. The police
came under some international and domestic criticism. Many of them have been unhelpful,
rude and hostile to the newcomers. Nevertheless one should take into account
that the number of the police forces is too small to deal with an event of such
a scale. Most policemen behaved supportively and did a professional job.
Several cases of friendly, supportive interaction have been recorded where the
individual policemen went well beyond their duties in providing help. All in
all, as a Hungarian it has been quite comforting to see that most the forces on
the grounds have dealt with the pressure, tiredness, long hours, and
uncertainty professionally: there have been no reports of violence or brutality.
The
civilians who volunteered and the charities have been remarkably active.
Doctors have been at work tirelessly, people have brought or donated towards
the cost of medicine, food, clothes, drinks, extension cords, tents, blankets,
and for the children, toys. There have been volunteers who translated and
interpreted, prepared guiding materials, organized food distribution and helped
liaison between the refugees and migrants, and the police and officials in
tense situations. All in all, the situation hasn’t affected the average
Hungarian citizen much: there were occasional traffic jams one the motorway
between Budapest and the Austrian border, and disturbances in the train
schedules at one of the three major train stations in Budapest, Keleti (Eastern) station.
Besides
the overworked police and charities (the number of people crossing the border
every day without permits can be checked here: Anyone can check out the data: http://www.police.hu/hirek-es-informaciok/hatarinfo/elfogott-migransok-szama), the ones who have been truly
adversely affected were those coming to Hungary to seek refuge and to travel on
towards other EU countries. Their treatment and situation often leave a lot to
be desired: In Hungary the cold weather is setting in – at night it can be
around 4-6 celsius degrees and it often rains for hours – and there aren’t
enough proper shelters to accommodate all the refugees. Also, their
registration has in some cases been going terribly slowly and they haven’t been
provided with adequate, detailed information about the legal procedures that
they have to go through before they can enter an EU country and move around
freely within its borders. What caused these problems?
With
the above question we have arrived at the main problem: The government level
actions in Hungary. Parliamentary seat holder and co-leader of the party LMP (Lehet Más a Politika/Politics Can be Different) told in an
interview that the Prime Minister informed him and the other party leaders in a
meeting held last winter that the number of people arriving and seeking asylum
in the EU will drastically increase in the summer. The questions comes
naturally to mind, that if the government had this information already last
winter, why did they not act on it? Why have they not constructed adequate
accommodation, showers and toilets, why have they not hired more interpreters
and translators and prepared materials about the regulations and rights of
those arriving here and crossing the borders to apply for refugee status? Why
have they not increased the numbers of the police and interacted with the EU’s
border control services (FRONTEX)? I can only risk an interpretation of the
behavior of the government based on what has been said and done by them so far.
But I do think that the interpretation is very hard to doubt and in fact is the
true account of what is happening in Hungary at the governmental level at the
moment.
What
has done the government done so far? It started a giant poster campaign in the
Spring. The posters were placed in several locations in Hungary, with messages
in Hungarian on them such as ‘If you come to Hungary you have to respect our
culture’, ‘You cannot take away the jobs of Hungarians’, and similar messages.
Adherents of the ruling party FIDESZ have accordingly started to talk about the
dangers of immigration, branding those arriving here in advance as immigrants
and not refugees, and assuming that they want to live and work here. The latter
assumption also turned out to be false: Most people arriving at the Hungarian
borders are reluctant to apply for refugee status here because they don’t want
to stay here. At the same time the government also initiated a ‘consultation
with the people’: They have sent a form in a letter to everyone of voting age
and asked questions like ‘Would you rather that the government spends its money
on illegal immigrants or on Hungarian families and children?’ All the questions
stressed that none of the people coming here have any just claim on our
solidarity and support. They also tried to make people accept a false dilemma,
that it is impossible for the state to help the refugees and to perform its
normal duties to its citizens. Whether this was intended as a statement of a
fact or a threat to Hungarians remains a mystery.
Being
occupied with the above mentioned media campaigns the government did not make
adequate preparations for when the masses of refugees and migrants actually
arrived: The situation escalated sharply in June-July, and the numbers entering
the country are still rising day by day. Nevertheless, practically no
preparations have been made: Authorities tried to house all refugees at the
same accommodations and shelters that have been used for decades now. These
buildings are decent, but old and can’t accommodate as many people as they were
suddenly supposed to. The government started opening registration camps along
the border, amongst them the one that became most famous, the one next to the
small town of Roszke. Roszke was intended as a place for registration where the
people arriving would only stay at most one or two days until they are
registered. Accordingly, there wasn’t any proper accommodation and no
sanitising facilities. The government took quick measures, but still, it did
not make use of the information it had of the scale of the issue at hand: the
number of administrators doing the registration was far smaller than what was
needed. There weren’t enough translators, not enough properly translated information
packages, no information points about EU procedures and rules. At this point, instead
of expanding on the available services provided to the incoming masses of
people, the government chose to build the controversial fence.
As
can be glossed from this much, there have been very few practical steps to help
the migrants, but many steps that aimed at vilifying and alienating those
coming to the EU seeking shelter and a brighter future. While it might be true
that a number of Germans resist the idea of accepting more refugees into their
country and have set accommodations on fire, at least there were
accommodations. The Hungarian government has instead focused on creating more
registration camps. Two small ‘temporary’ accommodation camps are under
construction since more than a month, but there have been no news yet of them
having been completed. Hence, there is no proper accommodation, no shelters,
only transit camps and registration camps. When huge numbers of refugees and
migrants who have been registered travelled to Budapest to try and find a means
of travelling on towards Germany and Sweden, the Mayor’s Office had to step in
and organize ‘transit zones’, where people on the move could temporarily stay,
and had access to at least some water, electricity and toilet facilities.
Thus,
the capitol had to step in to fill the void left by the government. But
according to EU law these people were not allowed to travel: Their application
for refugee status has to be evaluated in the country where they have registered,
and they have to register in the first EU country that they enter. Of course
Greece – a country in terms of GDP, PPP, and average earnings still better off than Hungary - does not
do its duty as an EU member and sends on most people without registration. Did
the government at this point take action to alleviate the condition of the
people stranded in Hungary? Not really. Just this week Parliament has passed new
laws that deem Serbia to be a safe country for refugees. This notion of ‘safe’ garnered
a lot of criticism: The notion of a safe country for refugees is standardly
taken to mean that those seeking asylum, applying for refugee status have a
reasonable chance of actually getting the status, their case will get a fair
and balanced treatment, and if their case is judged favourably have a
reasonable chance of settling in the country. Looking at the statistics of the
acceptance rates of applications for refugee status in Serbia is very
discouraging, and the Serbian government hasn’t been very proactive in
accommodating refugees in the country. These are some of the main reasons why
most refugees move on.
The
new law passed by the Hungarian Parliament also makes it possible for the
government to declare a state of emergency due to the huge numbers of people
crossing the border without permits and to deploy the military on the borders
to assist the police in turning people back, registering them, preventing them
from leaving the registration camps before having completed a the registration
procedure, and so on. The move of deploying the military and granting extra
rights to the police and deploying the military very controversial and many
Hungarian politicians, lawyers, legal organizations and civilians have spoken
out against, but to no avail. The governing party has two-thirds majority and
some members of the far-right party Jobbik have also supported the new law.
In
the last two weeks the government has also repeatedly rejected the idea of
setting up an EU sponsored and run ‘Hot Spot’, like the ones in Italy and
Greece. In some cases the Prime Minister struck a horrible tone in his speeches.
He said for example that since Hungary hasn’t forced other European countries
to take in a proportion of the roma population of Hungary it would be unjust to
force Hungary to accept the quota-based distribution of refugees. Besides
antagonizing their voters, the government also employed another method in their
communication strategy: They systematically conflate the two issues of a) the
difficulty of registering and accommodating those who enter the EU, with the
issue of b) what treatment and support the refugees and migrants receive. They
hide the fact that support and services for the incoming masses have been
wholly inadequate by repeating that they are only doing their duty in
registering them and only letting them leave towards other EU countries if
those countries agree to accepting them. Of course they do their legal duty in
performing the registration process, but that is no reason and does not necessarily
have to be done in ways that are wholly inadequate. The standard move of the PM
and other government officials in the debates has been – employed often by
foreign minister Peter Szijjarto and by the head of the PM’s office Janos Lazar
- to accuse anyone criticising the work of the Hungarian government of
criticising all Hungarian and pretending that the government is criticised for doing
the registration, while in reality they were clearly being criticising for not
providing adequate accommodation, food, information, travel, and sanitary
circumstances.
Sure
enough, there has been some panicking and unjust criticism coming from other
countries. The fence has by many been treated as a symbolic issue, as sending
the message that the EU countries are actually not committed to the values that
they often claim to be championing. Whatever we make of that debate, the fence
has not been used to keep everyone out of the EU: there are doors on the fence
and the police and volunteers guide those arriving at the border to the doors,
where they can enter, get medical support, food and water, and are registered. This
made the arrival of refugees and migrants much more organized and contributes
both to the security of Hungary and the EU as we can actually know how many
people and who has entered the EU. It also made the work of the authorities and
the volunteers and charities easier and more effective. Furthermore, it makes
the work of traffickers harder as well, and many more have opted for entering
in the legal way since the fence has been put up.
Another
debated issue about which there has been much confusion was that of registering
people and preventing them from travelling on to other EU countries. Some
journalists seemed to have seen this as some strange form of cruelty on the
part of the government. But it is by no means obvious what Hungary should do in
the current situation: Greece and Italy let large numbers of people move on
unregistered. This is clearly not okay: These people don’t have papers, EU
authorities have no idea where they are coming from, they don’t have working
permits, and addresses. In case their applications are judged unfavourably and
they have to leave the EU it will be nearly impossible to trace them. When
Hungary did let refugees cross to Austria and eventually to Germany last
weekend these two countries have both signalled that this should not happen
again in such an uncontrolled fashion. An additional problem relating to
registration is that many people before crossing the border throw away their
papers and so cannot be identified by the authorities. The police have to
accept their words for who they are and where they are coming from. Two weeks
ago German journals have announced that Germany accepts the applications for
refugee status of all those fleeing from Syria. It has been misunderstood that
this only applies to people who were at the time already in Germany. So,
currently, about 95% of the people crossing the border say that they are
Syrians and seek asylum. Before news of the misunderstood German policy became
public a significant proportion of people claimed to come from Irak,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and Eritrea.
Two
other cases which have gathered much attention were the photo of a woman, a
child and a man lying on the tracks at the Bicske train station, police
standing around them and grabbing them. The photo has been taken by some to
show the police aggressively throwing people to the ground. Since then videos
of what happened have been published: The Syrian man, the husband and father of
the woman and child in the photo, laid on the train tracks in an act of protest
against not being allowed to leave the country for Germany. His wife tried to
persuade him to let go of the tracks, while police observed. The man has
suddenly grabbed his wife, who was holding their child, and pulled them down on
the tracks too. That is when the police grabbed the man, freed his wife and
child, and took him away so that he can’t harm himself and his family. The
other infamous case has been that of the far-right TV-reporter Petra Laszlo who
has kicked refugees, amongst them some children. This behavior has not been
common in Hungary in the last months and her behavior does not represent the
majority opinion of how we should relate to refugees and migrants. The case of
Ms. Laszlo is currently under investigation by the police.
If
taking only a brief glance on some leading journals it seems that passion has
subsided somewhat and more balanced opinions are starting to appear. But in
fact what is rather happening is that some journalists and politicians are
taking the side of Mr. Orban and his government. The problem with this is that
the debate does not become clearer, only more polarized. Participants actually accept
that the rhetoric employed by the government is actually the right way of
thinking and talking about the issues at hand. As I have tried to show in this
piece, this is far from the truth. The Hungarian government could have done
plenty more to avoid a crisis, to provide normal support for people entering
the country. The rhetoric of fear mongering, of talking up the risk of refugees
spreading diseases, of terrorism, of the difficulties of accommodating people
from Arabic countries with different religions and cultural background did
nothing to help solve any of the practical issues that Hungary or the EU faces
in the moment.
So,
why did the government adopt this stance? Taking into account the government’s
earlier policies and position on such issues as the Ukraine, its relation to
Russia and president Putin, its strange remarks about a failing EU and the
follies of democracy, two goals can be discerned. FIDESZ is conscious of the
fact that the way they have communicated – even when not in harmony with how
they act – has garnered them enough support to win two-thirds majority in
parliament twice in a row. With emphasizing the message against cultural
diversity and multiculturalism they also appeal to voters who would otherwise
maybe vote for Jobbik - the far-right party – in the next elections, i.e. they
are also fishing for votes. At the same time they try to weave a story about
Hungary being the country which fulfils its duty of protecting the rest of the
EU. At one point Szilard Nemeth has talked in terms of them and us, and some
journalists close to the government have liked the current situation to the
advances of the Ottoman armies in the 14th-17th
centuries. The goal of these moves is to show that Hungary is a valuable,
serious member of the EU, and at the same time thereby to justify Orban’s
actions and political views.
All
in all the government’s strategy could be summarized as aiming at alienating
the refugees and showing a strict and stern stance towards the problem. This
way the government seems to hope to avoid having to take its share from helping
and taking in refugees. So, what was the just part of the criticisms against the
Hungarian government? It is surely true that there is a significant lack of
amenities and supplies, and services aren’t adequate. The government has
conducted misleading and anti-refugee media campaigns. Members of FIDESZ have
repeatedly spoken of ‘aggressive illegal immigrants’ but there are no known,
reported cases of any violence against Hungarians. It has also been repeatedly
claimed by Hungarian journals and analysts supporting the governing party that
mostly young man are arriving who might be trained soldiers or terrorists.
Maybe there are people who are terrorist or trained soldiers, but if one takes
a quick glance at the police statistics it can be seen that on most days about one
fifth of all people entering the country are children, many are female or old.
Also, many of the man have families at home.
What
is needed currently to help sort this situation out? The most important would
be more cooperation among EU member states. Unique solutions are no solutions
at the moment because the whole region, culture, economy, and politics will be
affected. Instead of trying to gain support at home, politicians should abandon
the media strategy to make this process into something that we disagree over,
and should work on transforming into an exemplar of cooperation. Many EU member
states are already exhibiting remarkably cynical thinking about human rights
abuse in China and African countries, and other important issues. Let’s not
make things even more indefensible by ignoring people fleeing collapsed
countries.
What
we need urgently are practical proposals. The EU member states need to provide
those considering a move to the EU realistic information and realistic help.
People shouldn’t have to risk a long, dangerous – often perilous - and
expensive journey to Europe to discover that they are being turned away. Also,
those who can start a new life in the EU shouldn’t pay to traffickers and
smugglers. Cheap, safe, sustainable and regulated transport services could be
set up and operated with a profit. We need to get the information needed to
those who need it. Those who have just fled their countries and are full of
hope and longing for a safe and stable place where they can imagine living and
their children growing up will become victims of traffickers telling fairytales
about Europe and misleading people so as to make them give up everything and
risk the journey. Relegating some of the administration to safe camps nearer
their countries of origins, migrants and refugees could receive faster and fair
treatment. These operations could be conducted jointly by EU states, giving
both more practical experience in how to work together and create job
opportunities.
There
is also clearly need for more initiative in integration: governments should
work on making plans about how the working potential of the refugees could be best
made use of, how their children should be schooled, how they can become
proficient in the local language as fast as possible. Also, due to the
difficulties of the registration process further background checks and security
measures will have to be implemented.
As
I have indicated, I see the main problem in the way the Hungarian government is
using the situation to gain advantage in a broader political debate within the
EU. The real victims of this situation are the refugees, and in the long run
both them and those EU citizens who will have to deal with the lack of clear
policies and guidelines, helpful integration projects and an effective,
standardized administrative system that can handle the applications quickly,
reliably, and fairly – both to those seeking a safe new home in Europe, and
those already living here. As I have suggested a good way to start is to talk
more about the facts and about practical solutions, and way of doing so is to
familiarise ourselves with the data. Getting the facts right should then easily
dispel the rhetoric employed by politicians who want to trade on the misfortune
and suffering of others to gain political influence.
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