I was surprised to learn that the largest source country for asylum seekers in Canada is Hungary. Embassy Magazine reports that 2,297 Hungarians–mostly Roma–filed for asylum in Canada in 2010. During the first nine months of 2011, figures show that 2,545 Hungarians applied for asylum in Canada, 1,000 more than the next highest source country, China. Presumably most of these asylum seekers were also Roma (Roma are pejoratively known as Gypsies).
There’s a different story in the United States. According to the DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, only a nominal number of people from Hungary sought asylum in the U.S. Indeed, the Yearbook does not even list Hungary as a source country, and in FY 2010, only 730 people from all of Europe applied for asylum here.
So why the difference between us and (as Herman Cain would call it) Cana-an-an-anada?
My first thought was that the difference must be related to visa requirements, but this appears not to be the case. Embassy Magazine reports that, “Canada lifted visa requirements for Hungarian nationals in 2008,” but the same is true for the U.S. As of November 2008, Hungarians are eligible to enter the United States on the Visa Waiver Program.
Another explanation may be that Canada already has a sizable Hungarian population, including many people who fled Hungary after the 1956 Revolution. Immigrants tend to go where they feel more comfortable, in terms of culture, language, etc., and so the new immigrants might be joining their countrymen in Canada. But it turns out that the U.S. has more Hungarians than Canada (including Drew Barrymore and–my personal favorite–Bela Lugosi) .
A final reason might be that it is easier to win asylum in Canada than in the U.S. But I don’t think that is the case either. According to Embassy Magazine, Canada “accepted less than 10 per cent of the Hungarian refugee claims since 2009.”
In the end, it is a mystery to me why Canada is receiving so many more Hungarian asylum seekers than the U.S. What seems pretty clear, though, is that the situation for Roma people in Hungary is dangerous. Many Roma have been murdered and right wing extremism is on the rise. The main reason for the low asylum grant rate is not that Roma people are safe in Hungary. Rather, the Canadian government believes the Roma can resettle in other EU countries where they can live safely (whether the Roma agree with this is a separate question).
There is talk in Canada of making it more difficult for Hungarians to obtain visas. Even if visas are not restricted, if the grant rate remains low, the flow of Hungarians may slow down. But if the situation for the Roma in Hungary is as bad as it seems, a 10% chance of gaining a better life in Canada might be enough to keep people coming.
And yes, I know Herman Cain jokes are so last month, but I thought that was a good one.
Mr Dzubow, from your position tomcat’s comment might seem to be aggressive, but his reasoning is based on facts. At least, we can see from Hungary how disinformated you, Canadians are about the situation of Gypsies in Hungary. From your article it turned out that the Hungarians would be racists and violent and terrorizing the Gypsies. But the truth falls very far from your conclusion, the flat facts are on the contrary. Almost everywhere in Hungary, where Gypsies live the local Hungarians are kept in fear and terror of the radical behaviour of the Gypsy minorities (in many cases they are locally in majority). Most of them – and this is not stereotyping, but practical experience – are stealing, beating the old, the children and other diffenceless people, raping young women and they are not affraid from killing people either. In addition, they don’t feel shame for their crimes. There are a few however of the Gypsy, who are integrated and live a normal life they themselves are ashamed of their own people. E.g. I met a gypsy pizza boy who brought my pizza to my appartment and asked me to hurry because he had left his scooter at the front door of the building. He also told me that although, he speaked against their own people ‘the most of the population here shoud be wiped out’. I know about Gypsy politican as well who is on the opinion that ‘these people could be integrated just they don’t want to be’. Besides of these, most of them live on welfare (they bore children just to get more of it), so we pay our taxes to be terrorized. That’s why ‘radical right side’ is on the rise which is not as radical as the internation media introduce it and not even close as radical as the terrorizing Gypsy people which it is against.
I don’t ask you to accept my comment as I completely understand that this all is hard to realise from a far country of well-being, I only ask you to collect more information before you put lies on your website offending Hungarians feelings. No offense. Thank you.
In case you still don’t have an answer, here you go. The Gypsies going there are criminals. They all have the same story about “Nazis” and “racists” suppressing them, for they can’t get a job, they are discriminated, etc. In fact these families have been living of the worst crimes for generations. As soon as the Canadian authorities let them in, they continued where they stopped – just look up some articles, especially in Toronto and Hamilton. No wonder Canada has quickly changed its immigration laws and they are now sending these bastards home. Unfortunately I have to live with them here. 90% of crime in Hungary is committed by Gypsies. (And f.k PC, they are not “Roma”. They are stinky Gypsies, period.)