Lazar: Parliament to vote on migration bill in Feb

Parliament is expected to vote in February on a new package of laws aimed at fighting illegal migration and boosting Hungary's security, government office chief Janos Lazar said on Thursday. The government believes it important that organisations that support and organise illegal migration, and receive funding from abroad, should operate transparently, Lazar told a regular press briefing. The bill obliges such organisations to register their activities and pay a 25 percent tax on donations received from abroad to be spent on border protection costs. Additionally, organisations could be subject to a restraining order with possible identical consequences to a ban, Lazar said. Since the planned law will apply only after it enters force, this will give an opportunity to US financier George Soros to stop financing illegal migration into central Europe, Lazar added. He said Hungary last year gave asylum to nearly 1,300 people because "we help those who are in trouble".