Accessibility links

Breaking News

Hungary Defends Anti-immigration Stance at UN Rights Body

update

FILE - Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto attends an interview with Reuters in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 12, 2017.
FILE - Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto attends an interview with Reuters in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 12, 2017.

Hungary defended its anti-immigration stance on Monday at the United Nations, saying it was determined to maintain a homogeneous, Christian society.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee**, composed of independent experts, began a two-day review of Hungary's record, less than three weeks before a parliamentary election.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a rally last Thursday that voters must fight "external forces and international powers" who wanted to foist mass immigration on their country.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told the panel: "First and foremost, it is a firm conviction of the government that the Hungarian people have the right to live a life in security, without fear of terrorist atrocities."

In 2015, Hungary had a "sad experience" when some 400,000 migrants passed through on their way to western Europe, "ignoring all rules," he said.

Hungary responded with a border fence and rejection of European Union proposals to settle migrants in member states under a quota system. Most of the migrants were Muslims fleeing conflict in the Middle East.

"The Hungarian government has not admitted illegal migrants and will not admit them in future," Szijjarto said. "We Hungarians have lived the past 1,000 years in a Christian society, in an integrated, homogenous society; that is what we consider invaluable, and we continue to insist on this."

He said non-governmental organizations that lobby for more tolerance of immigration were not elected and did not represent the Hungarian people.

**Original story published on March 19 said the U.N. Committee on Civil and Political Rights, it has been corrected to say the U.N. Human Rights Committee.

  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG