Hungarian Red Cross evacuates Roma villagers amid far-right fears – Monsters and Critics
The Hungarian Red Cross evacuated hundreds of Roma women and children from a remote village Friday morning as a far-right group moved in to begin a weekend of paramilitary training nearby.
‘This is the first time the Hungarian Red Cross has organized the evacuation of Hungarian civilians threatened by paramilitary activities since the Second World War,’ the organization said.
The move was a response to the latest provocation by far-right activists – this time a paramilitary group calling itself the ‘Hungarian Defence Force’ – in the remote Hungarian town of Gyongyospata.
On its website, the group called on sympathizers to enroll for a weekend of paramilitary training at a camp on the edge of the village.
Participants were asked to come in military-style uniform and, if they have them, bring airsoft weapons – lifelike replica guns that fire plastic bullets.
Farkas Janos, the deputy leader of the Hungarian Roma Citizens’ Movement and a resident of Gyongyospata said the town’s Roma feel ‘terrorized’ by far-right paramilitary groups.
‘The children had to be sent away this weekend because they wouldn’t be able to sleep at night,’ Farkas told the German Press Agency dpa.
read more Hungarian Red Cross evacuates Roma villagers amid far-right fears – Monsters and Critics.
In Boedapest 