I’ve just read a disturbing report about events in the town of Gyöngyöspata in Hungary. It begins by claiming that the town has been targeted by the ‘Gárda’, a nationalist security movement associated with Jobbik. Apparently the Gárda are harassing the local Roma community, while the police turn a blind eye.
We were there until around 3am, talking to people, who havent slept for weeks, and told us what has been going on. Their kids are afriad to go to school and some havent been for 2 weeks now – as a result, the state can withdraw their family aid! The teachers and the director at the school are also threatening the kids, saying things like you’ll all die, we’ll kill you, we’ll call the gárda if you dont behave. The gárda gets entry to the school and the kindergarden- which is when parents run there to take their kids. So most of them dont take them anymore.
The situation in Gyöngyöspata is also touched on here.
As this article was going to press some 2000 Magyar Garda were converging on the eastern village of Gyöngyöspata to attend a rally on Saturday, and were already terrorising the inhabitants and assaulting children on their way to and from school, apparently as retribution for the attacks on students that was the subject of Thursday’s trial.
This German article includes photos which appear to show vigilantes armed with axes and whips.
These events come at a time when Hungary is facing internal criticism for perceived oversights with respect to minority rights and representation in its new constitution.
Sarah AB adds This long article, giving a fuller analysis of the situation, has just been published. The whole piece is well worth reading.
After the end of the protest the activists wearing the black uniforms of the Civil Guard Association for a Better Future, the “Defense Guard” or the “gendarmerie” did not leave Gyöngyöspata. They are there to this day and still terrorize the local Roma population. They stand in lines and surround the neighborhood. Because of their threatening appearance, the Roma do not dare leave their houses or send their children to school. Their stated goals and behavior clearly questions the state monopoly on the legitimate use of force. The village has a local police chief who had earlier initiated investigations into some thefts and closed some cases. However, many local residents considered it necessary to strengthen public safety by calling on the civil guards to protect their village.
Even though it seems certain that some Roma committed crimes, it seems equally certain that Jobbik, and their supporters, are driven by more than a wish for a quiet life, and that many innocent people, including children, are being targeted.
One article in major ultra-nationalist website, www.barikad.hu, begins with the statement that in Gyöngyöspata, on the day of the protest, the population had once again approached the ideal Hungarian “ethnic ratio”, a concept which, with demographic decline among non-Roma and high birth rates among Roma in Hungary, is gaining in importance in the ultra-nationalist narrative in Hungary.
