Hungary seeks to punish those who aid illegal migration
BUDAPEST-- A new set of laws would tax and possibly sanction Hungarian groups assisting illegal migration which receive foreign funding, Hungary's government said Wednesday.
Such groups would have to register with the courts and, if they get more than half of their funds from foreign sources, pay a 25-percent tax on the funds received from abroad, Interior Minister Sandor Pinter said. Groups failing to register, and which authorities consider to be adding illegal migrants, could be fined.
Pinter, without mentioning anyone by name, gave an example of someone providing a smartphone containing maps and other information "showing the way to Europe" to a migrant in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and part of the "Balkan route" migrants use to try to reach Germany and other destinations in Western Europe.
Also, restraining orders could be issued against Hungarian citizens considered to be "organizing illegal migration," preventing them from going within eight kilometers (five miles) of Hungary's Schengen borders, those with countries outside the European Union, like Serbia and Ukraine. Foreigners found to be aiding illegal migrants could be banned from Hungary, Pinter said.
Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said the expectations were that Hungarian non-governmental groups "which deal with illegal migrants or the issue of migration will follow the law and indicate to authorities ... that they are doing this activity."
The new laws would apparently not apply to, for example, religious charity groups or the Red Cross, which distribute food, medicines and other aid to migrants.
