Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

1. Overview

Minority Rights Group International (MRG) states that the period since 2010 "has been marked … by growing nationalism. This environment has led to Roma being scapegoated and demonized in right-wing discourse" (MRG Jan. 2018). MRG further states that "[r]acist violence against Roma remains one of the most pressing issues in the country" (MRG Jan. 2018). Deutsche Welle (DW) reports that "[t]hough violent crimes against Roma are less brazen in Hungary nowadays, the minority group continues to face adversity" (DW 22 Feb. 2019).

Al Jazeera reports that an increasing number of "Hungary's youth are joining far-right wing and neo-Nazi movements, such as the Highwayman's Army (Betyársereg )," some of whose members are on trial "for intimidating Roma" (Al Jazeera 21 Nov. 2018). A December 2018 academic journal article in Perspectives on Terrorismstates that, while migration levels in the second half of the 2000s were low in Hungary, vigilantism and paramilitarism have increased after the "migration crisis" of 2015, fuelled in part by the "so-called 'Roma issue'" (Mareš Dec. 2018, 131).

2. Extremist Organizations

According to sources, Our Homeland Movement (OHM) [Mi Hazánk Mozgalom , MHM] political party was founded by László Toroczkai, a former vice-president of the Jobbik party, in 2018 (AFP 21 May 2019; Foreign Policy Research Institute 10 July 2018). For further information on the Jobbik party and OHM, see Response to Information Request HUN106147 of July 2018. Without providing further details, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that Toroczkai is "linked to several vigilante groups in Hungary" (AFP 21 May 2019). According to sources, Toroczkai founded the far-right 64 Counties Youth Movement (Mareš Dec. 2018, 126; Politico 17 June 2019), or is one of its "leading figures" (The Washington Post17 Sept. 2015). A 2015 article in the Washington Postdescribes the group as "a far-right, ultranationalist political organization that is close to the influential Jobbik party. Its members believe in the restoration of 'Greater Hungary' to its borders before World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire" (The Washington Post17 Sept. 2015).

Media sources report that in May 2019, OHM staged a protest in Törökszentmiklós against "'gypsy terrorists'" (AFP 21 May 2019) or "'Roma crime'" (Reuters 21 May 2019). The Associated Press (AP) reported that approximately 400 people attended the OHM protest while, nearby, approximately 200 Roma commemorated the victims of "a series of Roma killings a decade ago," and "two other groups also held small protests against the far-right event" (AP 21 May 2019). The OHM's Manifesto for the European Parliament Elections 2019states that "[w]e need to fight against all aspects of Gipsy delinquency and the problem should be settled by strengthening the police and supporting voluntary self-defense associations" (OHM 2019, 12).

Media sources indicate that in May 2019, the OHM announced that they were forming a militia, the National Legion [Nemzeti Legio ] (AFP 21 May 2019; Hungary Today 21 May 2019; The Independentwith AP 14 May 2019). Citing Toroczkai, AFP reports that the militia would focus on teaching "self-defence and basic military skills" and that it "wanted to continue the 'idealism' of the Magyar Garda [Hungarian Guard]," another militia group that had been founded by a Jobbik leader (AFP 21 May 2019). AP reports that during the protest in Törökszentmiklós, Toroczkai claimed that the problems that had led to the emergence of the now-disbanded Hungarian Guard, such as "crimes by Roma," had "only gotten worse" (AP 21 May 2019).

According to Hope Not Hate, an anti-fascist political action group based in the UK (Hope Not Hate n.d.), approximately 50 people attended the "official launch" of the National Legion in Szeged on the first of June (Hope Not Hate 22 June 2019). The same source further states that the group was "half the size of the anti-fascist counter protest" (Hope Not Hate 22 June 2019). Information on the size, structure and activities of the National Legion could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Hungary Today, an English-language news portal (Hungary Today n.d.), reports that "Betyársereg , a militant far-right organization, is also regularly present at Mi Hazánk’s events" (Hungary Today 21 May 2019). A July 2018 article published on the website of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a think tank that provides "nonpartisan policy analysis focused on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the United States," states that as of mid-2017,

a new nationalist coalition emerged on Hungary’s far right, comprised of Betyársereg (“Outlaw’s Army”), a militant nationalist group and self-described “patriotic sports movement,” along with two other groups, Érpataki Modell Országos Hálózata (“Érpatak Model Nationwide Network”) and Identitárius Egyetemisták Szövetsége (“Identitárius Association of College Students” aka “Identitesz”). (Foreign Policy Research Institute 10 July 2018)

Further information on Betyársereg, Érpatak Model Nationwide Network and Identitárius Association of College Students, including activities, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

3. Response by Authorities

Sources reporting on the protest in Törökszentmiklós state that the police separated the protestors from the local Roma, as well as from the counter-protest (AFP 21 May 2019; Hope Not Hate 22 June 2019). According to AFP, OHM planned to march through Törökszentmiklós, but the police "banned the parade" (AFP 21 May 2019). Hungary Today similarly reports that the police had initially banned the "march … only granting permission for a 'static demonstration'" (Hungary Today 22 May 2019). Further information on police response to the activities of far-right and extremist groups could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. For information on police response to complaints lodged by Roma citizens, including procedures to lodge a complaint against a police officer, as well as alternate complaint mechanisms, see Response to Information Request HUN106145 of July 2018.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 21 May 2019. "Hungary Far-Right Protest Stokes Fears of Anti-Roma Violence ." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2019]

Al Jazeera. 21 November 2018. "Prejudice and Pride in Hungary: Inside the Far Right ." [24 July 2019]

Associated Press (AP). 21 May 2019. "Far-Right Rally in Hungary amid Renewed Tensions with Roma ." [Accessed 26 Aug. 2019]

Deutsche Welle (DW). 22 February 2019. Keno Verseck. "Decade After Neo-Nazi Killings, Hungary Hostile for Roma ." [Accessed 30 July 2019]

Foreign Policy Research Institute. 10 July 2018. John R. Haines. "A New Political Movement Emerges on Hungary's Far Right ." [Accessed 8 Aug. 2019]

Hope Not Hate. 22 June 2019. Bernard Rorke. "Long Hot Summer: Hungary's Fascists Target Roma Communities ." [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019]

Hope Not Hate. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019]

Hungary Today. 22 May 2019. Ábrahám Vass. "Far-Right Demo in Törökszentmiklós: Heavy Police Presence and Tension Without Violence ." [Accessed 7 Aug. 2019]

Hungary Today. 21 May 2019. Ábrahám Vass. "Mi Hazánk’s EP Program: ‘Roma Problem,’ Opposing Migration, Russia-Friendly Politics ." [Accessed 7 Aug. 2019]

Hungary Today. N.d. "About." [Accessed 7 Aug. 2019]

The Independentwith Associated Press (AP). 14 May 2019. Chris Stevenson. "Far-Right Party in Hungary Forms Uniformed 'Self-Defence' Force in Spirit of Outlawed Vigilante Group ." [Accessed 13 Aug. 2019]

Mareš, Miroslav. December 2018. "Right-Wing Terrorism and Violence in Hungary at the Beginning of the 21st Century ." Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 12, No. 6. [Accessed 16 Aug. 2019]

Minority Rights Group International (MRG). January 2018. "Hungary; Roma ." [Accessed 30 July 2019]

Our Homeland Movement (OHM). 2019. Our Homeland's Europe: Manifesto for the European Parliament Elections 2019 Our Homeland Movement (Mi Hazánk Mozgalom) . [Accessed 6 Aug. 2019]

Politico. 17 June 2019. Lili Bayer. "Orbán Government Withdraws Support for Extreme-Right Festival ." [Accessed 6 Aug. 2019]

Reuters. 21 May 2019. "Tension Flares Between Roma, Extremists in Hungary ." [Accessed 27 July 2019]

The Washington Post. 17 September 2015. Ishaan Tharoor. "Far-Right Hungarian Mayor Makes Absurd Anti-Refugee Action Video ." [Accessed 26 Aug. 2019]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including:24 HU; Amnesty International; Counter Extremism Project; Dream Deferred; European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance; European Network of Equality Bodies; European Roma Rights Centre; EUROPOL; Fair Observer; Human Rights Watch; Hungarian Civil Liberties Union; Hungarian Helsinki Committee; Hungary – Equal Treatment Authority, Ministry of Human Capacities, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice; Institute of Race Relations; INTERPOL; The New Yorker; The New York Times; Southern Poverty Law Center – Hate Watch; UN – Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; US – Department of State.