“To the Hungarian Government, the safety of the Hungarian people comes first”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement on Wednesday in reaction to the fact that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has called on the Hungarian Government to withdraw the “Stop Soros” legislative package.

“In recent years, the UNHCR has attacked the Hungarian Government on ten separate occasions simply for protecting the country’s borders against illegal immigrants, and it has already attacked both the border security fence and the National Consultation. In their opinion migrants should be allowed to move between countries ‘unhindered’, and illegally crossing state borders should not be punished. The Hungarian Government does not accept this”, reads the statement, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade supplied to Hungarian news agency MTI.

“Illegal immigration is not a human right. Assisting illegal immigration is not a humane act; it is a crime and a security risk. Migration is a national security issue”, the Ministry underlined.

“To the Hungarian Government, the safety of the Hungarian people comes first, and we will not allow the migrants or the organisations that support migration to put Hungary’s security at risk”, the statement highlights.

On Tuesday the UNHCR called on the Hungarian Government to withdraw the legislative package, which according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees would significantly restrict non-governmental organisations and private individuals in supporting refugees and asylum-seekers. “Seeking asylum is a fundamental human right, not an offence”, the organisation’s regional representative for Western Europe Pascale Moreau said in a statement on Tuesday.

(MTI)