200 European Human Rights Organizations Protest in Hungary

More than 200 European human rights organizations protest against the new laws proposed by the Hungarian Parliament aimed at limiting the work of NGOs helping refugees in the country, reports Bgnes.

"We express our solidarity with civil society and all human rights defenders in Hungary - the brave people who are fighting for a more honest society," reads part of the open letter signed by the organizations and published by the German branch of Amnesty International ".

Today, we are going to discuss legislative changes that will impose new restrictions on non-governmental organizations in the country. It is expected that many of them will even be banned. According to the bills published last week on Parliament's website, these organizations will be required to pay a 25% tax on all their foreign funding, and their workers will be banned from accessing refugee centers near the country's borders.

The affected NGOs will also have to register with the Ministry of the Interior, which in turn will have the right to impose fines or deny them the right to work legally in Hungary. But to approve the changes, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government needs a two-thirds majority, which is not currently in parliament.