Amnesty slams Hungary’s migrant ‘abuse’ ahead of vote

BUDAPEST: Amnesty International yesterday denounced Hungary’s right-wing government for “deliberately” mistreating asylum seekers and whipping up anti-migrant fears ahead of a national vote on the EU’s troubled refugee relocation plan.

“Against the backdrop of a toxic referendum campaign, poisonous anti-refugee rhetoric is reaching fever pitch,” the international rights group said in a report.

Hundreds of migrants and refugees have suffered physical abuse, illegal border pushbacks and unlawful detention at the hands of Hungarian authorities in recent months, Amnesty said.

The study is based on research conducted last month in Serbia, Hungary and Austria -- three key countries along the Balkan migrant trail -- and includes interviews with 129 migrants.

People stuck in so-called “transit zones” on the Hungarian- Serbian border told Amnesty they had been “beaten, kicked and chased by dogs” before Hungarian guards forcefully pushed them back into Serbia.

The group said the “appalling treatment” of migrants and the denial of effective asylum procedures were a “deliberate populist ploy” to deter refugees from entering the country.

“The toxic rhetoric of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, calling asylum- seekers ‘ poison’, has trickled down to the level of local government and often permeates the context, in which police and local asylum centres operate,” Amnesty said.

In July, Human Rights Watch had already slammed Budapest for its “cruel and violent treatment” of migrants. — AFP