Hungary 'self-identity' law draws accusations of anti-Roma drive

Parliament enacted the so-called "law on protecting local self-identity" in June, empowering municipalities to regulate real estate purchases.

More than a dozen emptied-out plots and crumbling dwellings mark the former homes of Roma families in Mezokeresztes, the first settlement to implement the law that is allegedly being used to kick people out of their homes.

The town of about 3,500 inhabitants used the law to advance a decade-old scheme of purchasing run-down homes from residents, before withdrawing it after media criticism.

"We heard the mayor wants to evict Roma people, because he doesn't want them to be there," Zsuzsanna Marton, a 33-year-old Roma mother-of-three, whose family moved out of the town earlier this year, told AFP.

Mayor Janos Majoros denies any form of discrimination, insisting the town purchased properties regardless of the owner's ethnicity, and the whole process was voluntary.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's nationalist government argues the law helps develop fast-growing metro suburbs around the capital and two of the country's beloved lakes.

But critics accuse the ruling coalition of legitimising racism and courting far-right voters ahead of elections scheduled for next year.

The vast majority of the more than 90 settlements adopting local self-identity regulations are outside of metro areas and, according to critics, target minorities, such as Roma people.

The Roma are Hungary's largest minority, making up around seven percent of the country's population.

- 'Completely arbitrary' -

The law stipulates that under the "right to self-identity", settlements are entitled to protect and preserve their "social structure".

Almost all self-identity regulations adopted so far are discriminatory, according to lawyer Ilona Boros from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union.

"Generally, they stipulate such conditions which affect the disadvantaged Roma minority to a greater extent than other groups, like requiring high-school graduation," she told AFP.

She added that some border towns' regulations target foreign newcomers through Hungarian language requirements.

Some even set personal interviews with prospective residents, making the process "completely arbitrary", Boros said.

The government legitimises "exclusion efforts anddiscrimination", said Szilvia Rezmuves, a development expert at Polgar Foundation, which fosters Roma self-representation.

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Regional Development Minister Tibor Navracsics, a former EU commissioner, who spearheaded the adoption of the self-identity law, denies any discriminatory intent.

But last month, Navracsics admitted in a podcast that some locally enacted rules might be racist, stressing that authorities will intervene in those cases.

- 'Duped' -

In Mezokeresztes in northeastern Hungary, independent mayor Majoros told AFP the municipality had only adopted the law to gain pre-emptive rights on properties.

"In previous decades, houses in poor condition... became increasingly dilapidated and deteriorated on the property market, prompting the municipality to intervene", he told AFP.

Several locals told AFP they appreciated the mayor's efforts.

A 63-year-old retiree, who did not want to give her name, said she was happy when a "problematic" Roma family across the street moved out, accusing them of playing loud music and causing other annoyances in the neighbourhood.

Some Romas say they were tricked into selling their homes, which were then taken up by the municipality.

Former Roma resident Judit Pusomai alleges she was swindled out of her mud house when someone tricked her into signing a property swap deal.

The municipality bought her former home within a week, the property sheet shows, then it was demolished.

"Others were duped just like me," said the 54-year-old, who now lives in a nearby village crammed together with six relatives in a two-bedroom house.

- 'Chain reaction' -

Municipalities around Mezokeresztes have also adopted self-identity regulations in response to Roma people relocating, critics say.

"It is a chain reaction," Erno Kadet, editor-in-chief of Roma Press Centre, told AFP.

"Eventually, whole social classes, including many Roma people, could become pariahs in this country with nowhere to go," Kadet warned.

Marton, whose family moved from Mezokeresztes, lives now in Szentistvan.

But she complains about facing regular harassment from one of their neighbours, adding that no one is willing to help them.

"The mayor said if we don't like it here, we should sell the house to them," she said. "But we just want to live in peace."

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