Nativism in Hungary

Hungary's 'Stop Soros' law makes it illegal to help migrants

Migrant and refugee organizations in Hungary are facing an uncertain future after the country's parliament passed legislation Wednesday that criminalizes helping undocumented immigrants, including asylum seekers.

The legislation makes several basic human-rights activities illegal. 

Helping refugees fill in forms, distributing information to asylum seekers about how to claim refuge or organizing professional networks to help migrants could result in a possible jail sentence as punishment, according to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human-rights group.

Only five lawmakers voted against the bill, with 159 voting for it. 

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Amnesty International Europe Director Gauri van Gulik described the law as "a brazen attack on people seeking safe haven from persecution and those who carry out admirable work to help them."

In a statement published shortly after the vote, Gulik said the legislation was "a new low point in an intensifying crackdown on civil society and it is something we will resist every step of the way," noting that it was "a bitter irony" that the law targeting those who help migrants and refugees was passed on World Refugee Day.

Hungary's finance ministry is planning to submit separate legislation that would introduce a 25% tax on aid groups that support migration, Reuters reported Tuesday.

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Immigration featured prominently in April's election, which saw Orban returned to power in a crushing landslide.

In the annual state of the union address in February, the Prime Minister likened immigration to a "flu epidemic" and described Hungary as the final bastion in a battle against "Islamization" in Europe.