The Government debated and approved the proposal on the finalisation and promulgation of the text of the protocol on the modification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Hungary and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at its meeting held on 21 June. The document will be promulgated shortly.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) wishes to extend the operations of its Global Service Centre operational in Budapest since 2007, and this necessitated the modification of the headquarters agreement entered into with the organisation in 2008. Consultations have begun with the participation of the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the ministries concerned and the head of the UNCHR Global Service Centre. As a result, the UNHCR may further increase the number of staff members working in Budapest, which is fully in line with the aspiration of the Government that Hungary should host international organisations in the largest possible numbers.

The extension of the organisation’s Budapest operations has become topical, inter alia, because the UN High Commissioner for Refugees must respond to the challenges of the ever increasing migration pressure. As, in the wake of the situation which has recently evolved, the Office currently has more duties to perform in the field of finance, accounting, information technology, human resources and education, it is essential and reasonable to extend its operations both in respect of the floor space it occupies and the work force it employs.

It is the objective of the Government to attract international organisations and their representations to Hungary; this was successfully achieved in the case of Unicef. The capital may thus become a humanitarian hub on the international scene. At the same time, the relocation of international organisations to Hungary is in harmony with the Government’s programme aimed at the creation of new jobs and designed to promote and to preserve the employment of qualified work force locally. It is a further important factor that the activities of the UNHCR service centre are typically „white-collar” activities, and by virtue of the paid employer and employee taxes and contributions, the centre additionally generates significant fiscal revenue.

The organisation, whose operations were originally planned to last just three years, proved to demonstrate definitively that its operations are required on a permanent basis upon the emergence of the flood of refugees in the wake of the crushed Hungarian revolution in 1956. The UNHCR is one of the international organisations with the longest-standing operations in Hungary, and therefore serves as a reference in connection with the relocation of other organisations. The currently contemplated enlargement involves an additional 3,300 square metres of floor space and a staff of 150 persons at this point in time, which may further increase in the future. The Government wishes to indicate also in the light of this enlargement that its position is clear: Hungary accepts everyone who is persecuted in his country due to his political views, religion or origin or for any other reason; however, we are unable to offer a home to illegal economic migrants. The Government authorised the ministry responsible for foreign policy to issue the necessary deed of authorisation.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)