Hungary accused of fuelling xenophobia with anti-migrant rhetoric

Council of Europe’s damning report says human rights violations must be urgently addressed

Jennifer Rankin in Brussels
Tue 21 May 2019 09.00 BST Last modified on Tue 21 May 2019 15.45 BST

Europe’s top human rights watchdog has accused Hungary’s government of violating people’s rights and using anti-migrant rhetoric that fuels “xenophobic attitudes, fear and hatred”.

A damning report from the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatović, concluded: “Human rights violations in Hungary have a negative effect on the whole protection system and the rule of law” and should “be addressed as a matter of urgency”.

The commissioner, whose report is based on meeting government ministers and civil society groups during a five-day visit to Hungary in February, issued a devastating critique of the Hungarian asylum system that has resulted in “practically systemic rejection of asylum applications”. Voicing alarm at the “excessive use of violence” by police in removing foreign nationals, she criticised a policy of denying food to those refused asylum.

Hungary’s government has been urged to lift its “crisis situation” laws. The commissioner argued emergency measures could not be justified when the government received only 671 asylum applications in 2018.

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