Hungarian Government Publishes List Of Safe Countries
- 23 Jul 2015 9:00 AM
The government has prepared a list of safe countries of origin and safe third countries that includes the Western Balkans where most illegal immigrants arrive from. The list of countries deemed as safe under the asylum law includes all EU member states and four candidates for EU membership, namely Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The fifth candidate, Turkey, does not feature on the list.
The list, published in Tuesday’s official gazette Magyar Közlöny, also includes members of the European Economic Area, US member states where capital punishment is not applied, Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Safe countries of origin are defined by the related decree as countries free of war or persecution. Safe third countries are defined as countries which asylum seekers had already crossed and where they could have applied for refugee status.
Parliament mandated the government in late June to identify “safe” countries from where asylum-seekers would be rejected.
Speaking in support of the motion, Fidesz lawmaker Lajos Kósa said that “if someone is a refugee they must stop at the place where their lives are no longer threatened.”
Source www.hungarymatters.hu - Visit Hungary Matters to sign-up for MTI’s twice-daily newsletter.
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