The international community must finally make a clear distinction between refugees and migrants, this would help solve the immigration crisis worldwide, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated on Monday in Geneva.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the head of the ministry emphasized at the executive committee meeting of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that Hungary faces a double security challenge: from the east, all the serious consequences of the war raging in neighboring Ukraine, and from the south, the ever-increasing pressure of illegal migration.

According to his words, the case of our country exemplifies how important it is to distinguish between refugees and migrants, which, if it finally happens, could be a great help in solving the immigration crisis worldwide.

He stated that this distinction is based on international law, according to which if someone is forced to flee, they have the right to stay temporarily in the first safe country, however

he has no right to go through up to a dozen safe states until he reaches his chosen location.

"International law is only about the first safe country and not about the second, third or tenth," he said.

In his speech, Péter Szijjártó called Hungary a perfect example from this point of view, where more than one million people have arrived from Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and they have provided all refugees with equal access to health care, education, and help them find work.

On the other hand, as he said, what is happening on the southern border is "scandalous", as those arriving there have already crossed several safe countries in violation of international law, so they cannot even be considered refugees. In addition, they also want to cross the Hungarian border illegally, which is a crime, he said.

"Anyone who comes from far away and violates our border is naturally considered an illegal immigrant," he said, referring to the fact that 275,000 illegal border crossing attempts were registered last year and 150,000 so far this year.

Furthermore, he described as "scandalous" the fact that some migrants and human smugglers have now equipped themselves with automatic weapons and have shot not only at each other, but also at the border guards in several cases. "This is unacceptable, it cannot be tolerated, just as some politicians think we should tolerate this," he declared.

The minister believed that

In Europe, these waves of immigrants are mostly fueled by the measures that encourage those affected to leave and feed the business model of people smugglers

and they force sovereign countries to give up their right to decide for themselves who can enter the territories and who cannot.

He stressed: instead, the focus should be on addressing the root causes and creating the right conditions for people to stay in place.

Finally, he warned that supporters of mandatory distribution quotas would make the European Union a kind of magnet for migrants. “And we all know the consequences. "Parallel societies have been created, the threat of terrorism is increasing, and modern anti-Semitism is also strengthening in the western half of Europe," he listed.

"A clear distinction must be made between refugees and migrants. We have to help all refugees, as the first safe country we do so, but in the meantime we have to stop migrants," he concluded.

MTI

Cover photo: Péter Szijjártó's Facebook page