Hungary Stops Providing Support to Ukrainian Refugees from Zakarpattia
On 20 August, a law came into force in Hungary to stop providing support to some Ukrainian refugees.
This was reported by Telex.
The law contains an important change: only people from certain regions of Ukraine that are in the war zone and are ‘administrative units of Ukraine directly affected by the hostilities’ can now receive state aid in Hungary. At the same time, refugees from western Ukraine and Zakarpattian region are excluded from this system.
In addition, starting from 21 August, all Hungarian humanitarian organisations, except for the Maltese Aid Service, will be excluded from the current system, and state aid will be available only through them.
Due to the changes, many Zakarpattians, including Roma with dual citizenship of Ukraine and Hungary, may be evicted from their shelters.
According to the report, on 20 August in the city of Ercea, 110 Zakarpattian Roma were forced to leave the building of a sugar factory housing complex where they had been living for two years. In the city of Erd, 52 Zakarpattian refugees suffered the same fate, and other refugees from Ukraine across the country are in the same situation.
According to the newspaper, the changes look like a budget saving measure and mainly affect the Roma in Zakarpattia.
Since many Zakarpattians have dual citizenship, they will not have to leave Hungary, but will not be able to receive assistance.
According to a recent poll, Hungarians overwhelmingly believe that Ukraine poses a greater threat to their country than Russia.