11 April 2024: The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and the National Association of Disadvantaged Families have taken legal action to raise serious concerns about equal access to education and the safety of Romani children from the Bűd district of Tiszavasvári who are forced to walk around seven kilometres to reach their local school after their bus service was stopped The complaint has been submitted against the Municipality of Tiszavasvári and the Educational District Centre of Nyíregyháza before the Deputy Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Ombudsman for the Rights of National Minorities in Hungary “Bűd district is an ethnically segregated area predominantly inhabited by Romani people” said the ERRC’s Legal Director “Their financial situation makes it unrealistic for them to contribute to the proposed scheme to pay for the bus’s maintenance or to transport their children to school by car This is a clear example of how the unwillingness of local authorities and lack of resources and support disproportionately affect Roma.” the Chance for Children Foundation (CFCF) initiated legal proceedings against the Tiszavasvári Municipality before the Equal Treatment Authority (ETA) due to illegal segregation affecting the municipally maintained primary schools Despite a 2012 ruling by the ETA ordering an end to educational and racial segregation significant progress was only made in 2017 when the school district started phasing out teaching and transferring students and eventually closed the segregated school in 2022 The closure of the school meant the bus service which had been established in 2013 and made free in 2017 to facilitate access to education for Romani children from the Bűd district to walk or cycle nearly six to seven kilometres daily to school regardless of weather conditions This frequently causes illnesses amongst the children mainly Romani women taking their children to school often need to carry their younger children in strollers and cover double the distance which is time-consuming and hinders their ability to work the severity of the problem led a group of parents to organise a demonstration in front of the town hall and meet the mayor who stated that organising a school bus service is the task of the school district The complaint before the Deputy Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Ombudsman for the Rights of National Minorities argues that according to the relevant law this is not true School buildings are still owned by the municipalities it is a municipal task to provide local public transport and ensure that students living in the Bűd district have access to education under the same conditions as their peers living in other parts of the city The mayor also stated that if the municipality's budget allowed they would buy a smaller bus for this purpose but they could only operate it if the parents buy a pass and contribute to its maintenance Something which is unrealistic for large numbers of Romani families in the district who are severely socio-economically marginalised The Municipality of Tiszavasvári and the Educational District Centre of Nyíregyháza's failure to provide the necessary conditions for the children to attend school violates their fundamental rights The ERRC strongly urges all responsible parties to find a solution that ensures equal access to education for all children in the community This press release is also available in Hungarian For more information or to arrange an interview Site Map | Privacy | Permissions | Copyright © 2025 ERRC By entering your email address and clicking “Submit,” you agree to receive updates from the Open Society Foundations about our work. To learn more about how we use and protect your personal data, please view our privacy policy over the past half century the number of Roma has increased to between 500,000 and 800,000 of the country’s 10 million people with a politically significant and growing concentration of Roma in the northeastern corner of the country The Roma are not included in political decision-making on the national or local levels to a degree corresponding with their numbers Why have so few Roma communities in Hungary elected Roma to voting positions on local councils Why have so many Roma sold their votes to candidates from among the majority Hungarians and from other minority groups and even cast ballots for racist demagogues who have whipped up hatred of the Roma themselves “Too many Roma think only about putting food on the table here and now So they cast their votes for candidates who have paid them the most money or handed out the best food packets at election time No Roma party or candidate can pay Roma individuals as much for their votes as candidates from the major political parties can pay.” A look at circumstances and events that have marked life in northeastern Hungary since Communist rule ended in 1989 reveals an array of other factors that have also kept a critical mass of Roma from participating in their country’s political life too little appreciation for the value of education as well as intercommunal relations charged with fear and hatred Many fear that asserting themselves in political life will only jeopardize their already extremely vulnerable social position Then there are the dampening effects of a government mechanism officially called “Roma self-government.” It allows Roma voters to elect advisory councils that choose Roma representatives who sit in on meetings of town councils and other official bodies but have no power to vote and no say when local governments divvy up public jobs and acts of intercommunal violence have wracked northeastern Hungary during the quarter century since the country’s Communist regime collapsed Political leaders and parties on the conspiracy-mongering fringe of Hungary’s right wing have sought to win political support by blaming the hardship on Roma won significant popular backing during the years after 2006 Jobbik’s national and local leaders exploited the town of Tiszavasvári (pronounced tee-sah-VAH-shvah-ree) which had been a Socialist stronghold for the first 17 years after the fall of Communism The town became a backdrop for Jobbik rallies where party leaders harangued against “Gypsy criminals” and Jews with phrases not heard in public since the advancing Red Army wrested control of the region from Nazi and Hungarian troops toward the end of World War II The euphoria that accompanied the collapse of Communism dissipated quickly there laws that provided for criminal prosecution of the jobless and other regulations were jettisoned during Hungary’s post-Communist constitutional and legislative reforms state-owned enterprises in Tiszavasvári employed about 4,000 of the town’s 15,000 men just 1,000 of Tiszavasvári’s 13,500 or so people manage to hold jobs Post-1989 disruptions to the town’s patterns of life—massive layoffs the disappearance of enterprises anchoring the local economy that their homes would be burglarized and their gardens pilfered—fueled anxieties that led many to seek scapegoats “Many highly educated professionals and less-qualified people desperate for work moved away from Tiszavasvári to take jobs elsewhere,” said József Sulyok the town’s Socialist mayor from 1981 to 2006 “Among the educated people who departed were about 60 percent of our community’s leaders.” The burden of so many unemployed people and their families weighed heavily upon the Western European–style welfare system that had replaced the Communist system of keeping people in paying jobs by overstaffing successful enterprises and subsidizing unprofitable ones The post-1989 factory closures hit the Hungarians hard About 90 percent of northeastern Hungary’s working-age Roma are unemployed Most of these Roma have few survival options beyond collecting welfare and other state benefits and toiling under-the-table for cash in menial jobs Taxpayers in Hungary—like taxpayers everywhere—began to resent their money being diverted to support people who “do not have to work” and who produce more children in order to increase their household income by obtaining additional state child-benefit payments “A Gypsy family with six kids gets more money for welfare than I receive in salary,” said Tiszavasvári’s deputy mayor In the booming Roma birthrate and the continuing outflow of Hungarians from northeastern Hungary the majority Hungarian townspeople perceive a threat to their political monopoly the Roma could elect one or two members of the town council they will be able to take over the town government the Roma have yet to exercise this political potential lack of opportunity … the inventory of factors is extensive Many destitute Roma have fallen into debt to local Roma loan sharks which has diminished their communities’ ability to unite to elect political leaders and dampened the positive impact of Hungary’s state social welfare system The loans typically start small and are secured by the future welfare payments the Roma Many of the loans are taken out when a penniless family must obtain medicine are taken out for non-necessities such as alcohol Some Roma fathers have handed over their daughters to the loan sharks to work as prostitutes in Budapest and Holland until they have worked off their families’ debts People so impoverished will demand little in exchange for something as fleeting and abstract as a vote on election day especially when leaders of political parties pay off the feared loan sharks to instruct their debtors for whom to vote Tiszavasvári has two mutually antagonistic Roma communities who live in separate neighborhoods at opposite ends of town and do not vote as a bloc for Roma candidates at a time when right-wing pressure on the Roma was enormous in Hungary the leaders of the two communities could not manage even to form a local Roma self-government council or to choose one person who would serve as a non-voting Roma representative to the town government many Roma fear that loan sharks will become their community’s political leaders by default and more prosperous Romungro reside in self-built single-family homes separated by well-kept gardens in Bűd a neighborhood on the western side of town Their ancestors settled in Hungary at the end of the 15th century and over time adopted the Hungarian language and Hungarian customs; many Romungro have integrated almost completely into the mainstream Hungarian community Some Romungro still hold jobs with local enterprises including the downsized pharmaceutical company Tiszavasvári’s Oláh speak the traditional Roma language and live in a neighborhood called Wide Street which extends along the edge of town near the pharmaceutical plant only about 30 percent of the Oláh adults living in Széles Utca had jobs and most of them were as unskilled laborers in construction and agriculture the Oláh community survives almost entirely from state welfare benefits and other subsidies had houses built in Széles Utca for the Roma and presented them to Oláh families rent-free though they were required to pay for electricity Oláh extended families crowded into many of these houses As some families sank deeper into penury—and deeper in debt to the loan sharks—they stopped paying for their electricity and water service and sold off their houses’ water heaters The utility companies discontinued service to households that had not paid their bills and these families began drawing water from a communal spigot Oláh’s two trash bins overflow with garbage the stripping of appliances from publicly built houses and acts of petty crime including burglaries of Hungarian-owned homes near Széles Utca have exasperated Tiszavasvári’s townspeople Intercommunal relations ruptured on October 5 A 45-year-old Hungarian biology teacher from Tiszavasvári was driving through the nearby Tokaj wine district with his two young daughters their car apparently glanced a Roma girl who had run into the road The teacher stopped to check on the Roma girl proceeded to beat the teacher to death before his daughters’ eyes Jobbik seized upon this killing as a cause célèbre and began whipping up hatred of “Gypsy criminals.” Roma leaders and organizations expressed their regret about the crime were eventually convicted on charges related to the incident and handed stiff jail sentences But these reactions were too little and too late “Open expression of ethnic hatred toward Roma and Jews became legal and tolerated,” said Ági Kóka became the first Roma from Bűd ever to graduate from high school and who went on to help organize an after-school education program for Roma high school kids who sought to pursue a university education “Practically all communication between Tiszavasvári’s Roma and Hungarian communities halted.” A few months later Jobbik’s 29-year-old leader announced the establishment of a private vigilante group called the Hungarian Guard Its colors and symbols drew upon those of the partisan militia that pro-Nazi extremists had wielded as a weapon against Jews “Gypsy criminals,” and political opponents during the 1930s and ’40s Many Roma were attacked during the weeks and months that followed inhabitants of an even more extremist Hungarian fringe decided to initiate a reign of terror Jobbik continued to whip up hysteria and direct it against Hungary’s Roma And there was a campaign promise from Jobbik that they would force the Roma out.” The election campaign of 2010 produced a radical rightward shift across Hungary’s political spectrum Jobbik candidates railed all over Hungary against Jews Jobbik activists went into Roma settlements bearing promises: If elected Jobbik would develop the infrastructure in Roma neighborhoods Jobbik would bring in more refuse dumpsters and the loan sharks pressured the people who are dependent upon them,” said a Roma from Széles Utca adding that the price Jobbik eventually paid per vote was about 10 euros Jobbik captured almost 17 percent of the nationwide vote to become the third-strongest political party in parliament Jobbik won a majority in the town council and took the mayor’s seat with 53 percent of the ballots cast After the victory, Jobbik’s leader Gabor Vona declared Tiszavasvári to be the “capital” of the Jobbik movement Liberal and moderate Hungarians in the town grew disgusted with the Roma who Jobbik’s promises to Tiszavasvári’s Roma evaporated men hanging out and drinking beer in Széles Utca complained of not having a job The social welfare system had become less generous to the point where even the loan sharks were extorting less money Many Roma complained that the government doesn’t want conditions in the Roma settlements to improve because this would drive up the expectations of the Roma and rising expectations would drive up the cost of the Roma votes Jobbik took Tiszavasvári with a higher share of the vote than in 2010 Buses delivered Roma to the polling stations This article is part of a series examining Roma political participation in France and partners about how we’re working around the world to build vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people Every year the Open Society Foundations give thousands of grants to groups and individuals that work on issues we focus on—promoting justice The Council of Europe (CoE) has called on Hungary to improve the Roma minority’s access to education and to eliminate the difficulties they experience in all aspects of public life The advisory committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities visited Hungary in December 2019 the body urged immediate action to reduce drop-out rates in schools and to promote inclusive and called for a comprehensive training programme for teachers in disadvantaged regions A comprehensive policy would also be necessary to address housing issues among the Roma adding that government-owned housing projects and housing support should be boosted significantly Patients and health-care employees should be educated regarding anti-discrimination laws The committee praised the parliamentary representation of ethnic minorities in Hungary and noted that minority-related cultural events enjoyed growing funding in the past five years The committee proposed that minority representatives should be involved in the planning and distribution of funding the committee bemoaned a “pervasive atmosphere of intolerance in the political discourse and the media” which they said hindered minorities’ free expression of opinion The report called on the authorities to promote tolerance inter-cultural dialogue and mutual respect while condemning racist and discriminatory language in the public sphere As we wrote in September, the European Parliament has approved the report on the Framework for National Roma Integration laying the groundwork for integration measures proposed by Hungary to be developed further The Daily News Hungary should also report like they usually do where Hungary stand in relation to other EU countries as well as potential EU countries like Ukrain It would make the report much more meaningful and respectful If Hungary was at the bottom of the standing that would be very significant and should be especially addressed its important to address the issue EU wide and website in this browser for the next time I comment Y"},"category":false,"taxonomy":{"active":false,"name":"category"}},"markup":{"custom_html":true,"wpp-start":"","wpp-end":"<\/ul>","title-start":"","title-end":"<\/h2>","post-html":"{thumb} {title} {stats}<\/span>{excerpt}<\/p><\/li>"},"theme":{"name":""}} You have successfully joined our subscriber list SupportUs Newsletter © 2025 DailyNewsHungary | All rights reserved May 31 (MTI) – Poverty risk indicators for the Roma population have significantly declined in the past 2-3 years an official at the human resources ministry said The proportion of Roma experiencing income poverty fell from 68 to 63 percent while in-work poverty rate fell from 43 to 27 percent and the deprivation rate from 78 to 68 percent state secretary Károly Czibere told a meeting of the Roma Coordination Council on Tuesday He said the latter indicator showed bigger improvement among the Roma than the non-Roma population He said the results are proof that the government’s catchup policies and spending on developments have helped improvements Helpful measures included making attendance at nursery school compulsory and infant day-care meals free of charge for a wider range of people while also improving early infant education centres and access to one free meal a day in schools Czibere also noted the fostered work schemes which enrolled 60,000-66,000 Roma as well as talent-nurturing programmes in schools