On October 15, 2018 a new law came into force in Hungary, penalizing homelessness harsher than ever before. The Constitution amended in the summer of 2018 categorically declares that „Living habitually in public spaces is forbidden” in Hungary. Today homeless people may even go to jail for the sole reason of having no place to live. Hungarian society has reacted to this new piece of legislation in diverse ways, but the wave of solidarity with homeless people and mass resistance against the law are stronger than ever before.

The slogan of The City is for All "Living on the street is unrealistic" has gained new meaning since October 15, 2018 when the legislative amendment prescribing harsher punishment for the offence of sleeping rough entered into force. Here we will give an account of how the law has played out so far and of what can be done to help our homeless compatriots to overcome this period of extreme uncertainty, until the time when we have more insight into how this legislation is applied in practice. This knowledge in itself will not improve their situation, but it will make it at least more predictable.

On October 15, 2018 a new law came into force, penalizing homelessness harsher than before. Namely, the Constitution amended in the summer of 2018 declares: „Living habitually in public spaces is forbidden.“ Contemporary writers, actors, stage directors, reporters and representatives of civil society organisations protested against the legislation on October 14 under the slogan „One Sentence“. The organizers asked contemporary Hungarian writers from poets to songwriters to react in one sentence to the incriminating one-sentence amendment of the Constitution cited above. 

The Hungarian Parliament dominated by the governing party has passed a series of laws since 2013 that facilitates the persecution of homeless people: the fact that habitual residence in public space can be punished in areas defined by municipalities had been first included in the Fundamental Law and then added in the Law on Misdemeanours.  Experience has shown that the previous Misdemeanour law has not been enforced: we request the misdemeanour statistics each month from the Ministry of Interior, and the data prove that no misdemeanour infringement procedures have been initiated against homeless people for living on the streets since November 2016 – and it is not because people have stopped living on the streets.

The City is for All and Dr. Bernadett Szél of the Politics Can Be Different Party (Lehet Más a Politika, LMP), are proposing a bill to withdraw the current regulation that defines living in public spaces as a petty offense. The intent of this proposal is to end the persecution of homeless people living in public spaces in Hungary. The Hungarian Parliament will vote on this bill in April, 2016. Please support this bill by writing a lettet to all members of the Hungarian Parliament.

The letter - which maybe modified as you wish - can be downloaded from here

The contact list of the members of the Hungarian Parliament can be downloaded from here

Please copy us on the email you are sending to our MPs so that we may keep of track of this campaign (avarosmindenkie@gmail.com).

PLEASE SEE A SAMPLE LETTER BELOW

Holy Father,

We are members of the Budapest City is for All, all homeless or people experiencing housing difficulties. We turn to His Holiness, because we would like you to know how the Hungarian state treats homeless people. We know that you actively stand up against the oppression of poor people all over the world, and you have provided a lot of support for homeless people as well. Please turn your attention towards Hungary!

In response to the call for action by The City is For All, local organizations and individuals in 14 cities of three continents – from New York to Bangkok and Dublin to Istanbul – staged protests against the criminalization of homelessness in Hungary in front of Hungarian embassies and consulates.