"National Roma Authority president Flórián Farkas yesterday warned Roma people against seeking refugee status in Canada. He said those who leave Hungary will not be any better off as Canadian authorities have rejected asylum applications and those attempting to emigrate there find themselves in an even worse position.Farkas recalled that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Roma Authority “signed an agreement of historical importance last May which can substantively change the position of Hungarian Roma”.
The future of Hungarian Gypsies is here in their own homeland, he added.
Visa-free travel to Canada was possible from November 1, 1994 but Canada reintroduced visas for Hungarians on December 5, 2001, mostly due to the arrival of Roma refugees, HVG writes.
From 1998 to 2001 a total of 8,600 Hungarians applied for refugee status in Canada.
Canada abolished visa requirements for Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in March 2008."
Source: Hungary Around the Clock
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23.11.2011