The Government has requested a non-profit organisation with international and local experience to develop a procedure for compensating the immediate victims of the series of racially-motivated crimes committed against Roma in 2008-2009. The White Ring Public Benefit Association is making direct contact with the victims, while also providing the necessary psychological, legal and financial assistance.

The Government has requested a non-profit organisation with international and local experience to develop a procedure for compensating the immediate victims of the series of racially-motivated crimes committed against Roma in 2008-2009. The White Ring Public Benefit Association is making direct contact with the victims, while also providing the necessary psychological, legal and financial assistance.

With the issue of this decree the Government of Hungary has decided on assistance to injured survivors and those immediately affected by the murders in question. After thorough, extensive preparatory work, Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog has received authority to launch the compensation process; this should have been set in motion much earlier – immediately after the tragic events.

As a final judgment in the case has not yet been reached on criminally injurious behaviour, a unique solution was sought on a form of assistance similar to compensation. The Government expects a proposal from the non-profit association which both compensates the victims for losses suffered, and at the same time prevents further deterioration in their living conditions caused by the effects of the crimes.

In order to ensure the provision of an effective service prioritising the interests of those affected, the Ministry of Human Resources has commissioned an organisation which has an exemplary record of work in Hungary and internationally. Consequently, the White Ring Public Benefit Association, which has been in operation for 25 years, will make recommendations on the form and extent of compensation.

The association was formed in 1989 as the first victim protection organisation not only in Hungary, but in Central and Eastern Europe. Its goals today remain the same as when it was established: to help any victim of crime in spiritual, psychological, legal and financial terms. Since 1992 the organisation has been a member of Victim Support Europe; over the past 24 years nearly 50,000 people have turned to it for assistance, including 44,000 foreign citizens since 2002.

Representatives of the association are not linked to the prosecution services, but are solely concerned with providing help to the victims. This is what they did after the red mud disaster, and those affected by the murders in the Hungarian town of Mór. Surviving victims of the attacks on Roma will therefore be contacted directly by the association. They will develop and present to the ministry a proposal for effective assistance and – if necessary – provide immediate financial support to victims. The ministry will inform the public of the implementation proposal.

After the series of killings in 2008-2009, the government at that time did not take any action on behalf of the state to assist surviving victims and other people directly affected. The first government assistance of any kind came in 2010, when Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog – at that time Secretary of State at the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice – agreed the award of HUF 8.5 million to the families of the victims. Part of this money was spent on the refurbishment of four houses by the Phralipe Independent Roma Association.

(Ministry of Human Resources)