http://www.bizarrenews.org/content/view/167/1/

As of December 1, 2011, it is illegal to be homeless in the European country of Hungary, as a new law prohibiting it comes into effect. Those who are found to be in breach of this law will initially be given a warning for sleeping out on the streets. Offenders may also face a fine of US$600, which equates to £382 or €445, or a jail sentence.
A significant majority of the National Assembly of Hungary voted in favour of the law in October of this year. The Fidesz, a ruling party in the country, proposed the law on the basis that homelessness was becoming too significant a problem for the capital Budapest. The city is thought to contain ten thousand homeless individuals.

The unemployment rate for Hungary as a whole is approximately 10.7%. However, for the Romani people, this figure may rise to somewhere in between sixty and ninety per cent, according to International Business Times. 48% of those in the country without an occupation have not had one for at least twelve months, RTTNews reported.

According to BBC News Online, the new law has attracted a substantial amount of criticism from various quarters, including charities supporting the homeless, that it could not be enforced, while there are too few positions available in hostels, they have claimed. Hungarian Maltese Charity Service deputy head Miklos Vecsei believed that the laws were put in place due to the dissatisfaction of the public and had not been based on any professional or rational examinations. Vecsei believes that the problem of homelessness should not be outlawed but resolved.

István Tarlós, the Mayor of Budapest, told The Budapest Report that "those who believe that all problems would be solved if homeless people were given housing" would be "mistaken" in thinking so.

Mate Kocsis, the Fidesz MP that created the law, said that the issue of homelessness is one that should be rectified by the local councils of Hungary, while indicating that various recently introduced plans for and positions in hostels existed. Charities for those affected by homelessness believe that this would nonetheless cause one to three thousand individuals to have no shelter to reside in. Those who do not approve of the law are preparing to demonstrate to the National Assembly in opposition of it.

13 years ago*

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Well, at least in prison, they won't go... Hungary...

13 years ago
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ba-dum tsssh

13 years ago
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13 years ago
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2x ,damn double points for the rim shot and making a valid point.

13 years ago
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i see what u did there

13 years ago
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So they're pushing homeless people to crime? I don't think any of them can pay 600$ lol so basically home or prison!

13 years ago
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Basically prison is home for them,even better,they don't need to get a job and the food is free.

13 years ago
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Exactly who the hell needs freedom.. Hungary government is so thoughtful that they'll put homeless people in prison and they don't even need to commit a crime.

13 years ago
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Wait maybe we should just say death would be better for them and ... !#?%!

13 years ago
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I hope for your sake you eventually realize how horrible of an opinion this is.

13 years ago
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hahaha i guess bum fights will be back. now with cage matches!! what they gonna do go to the cops they are braking the law and should get jobs. they should do this in the U.S. get them occupy protectors a home.
protester "the bank took my home"
cop "nice story its jail for you bum"

13 years ago
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I think some of them would prefer to go to prison :P

Warm cells, free food. Basically what they're begging for!

13 years ago
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the costs to keep that many people in prison must be massive though

13 years ago
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Pfft pussies. Real countries makes laws against poverty.

13 years ago
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well if i was homeless there and couldnt find a job then i would definitely turn to crime. I mean your going to go to jail anyway right? Might as well try something to extend your freedom.

13 years ago
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I don't understand the logic.

Homeless - not having a home for some reason, most likely poor and unable to afford shelter.

Solution - fining the homeless ridiculous amounts of $$

13 years ago
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Exactly. I've noticed in America especially, quite frueqently, that the goverment will fine the poor (not homeless but familes with low income) on rediculous things. Like, if you are a few months late paying a bill that's worth a couple hundred dollars, you get fined another couple hundred dollars. If you couldn't pay it the first time, what makes companies think that you can pay it now that a late fee is added? This, I never understood. It makes little sense. Late fees are a load of crap.

13 years ago
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Also, overdraft fees and the like with banks. "Hmm, I see here that you don't have any money. That's going to cost you."

13 years ago
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I think it is more a no sleeping on the street law than a no homeless law. I assume that they have homeless shelters, just go there to not go to jail.

13 years ago
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Just because there's homeless shelters doesn't mean they're equipped to handle everyone.

13 years ago
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even where im form their are shelters but more homeless than space so it a mad rush to get in one of those places

13 years ago
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Out of curiousity, if a homeless man finds a nice cardboard box and labels it "house" and pays rent to the rats with stale bread crumbs, is he immune from this law?

13 years ago
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obviously not

13 years ago
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depends, does he have a deed to the property?

13 years ago
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Yeah, but it's written in McDonald's ketchup packets.

13 years ago
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well yeah as long as its ketchup, if it was mustard then it would be null in void in Hungary.

13 years ago
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Homeless? 600$ to pay. No money? Jail, a sweet warm place with neighbours.
Actually i think its + for homeless

13 years ago
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Because Jail is usually such a nice place. :)

13 years ago
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Visit British jails. We're so polite, even the anal rape is done with our pinky fingers extended.

13 years ago
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Stiff upper lip, and all that.

13 years ago
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. . . You have raped my mind with that sentence alone.

13 years ago
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Minimum security ones are.

13 years ago
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lol falcon i love you

13 years ago
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At least they get a home in the jail.

13 years ago
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so then they would be homeless and be let out, but then after they are let out they become homeless, endless cycle i tell ya.

13 years ago
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How many of you guys have been in jail and preferring it to being homeless?

13 years ago
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i dont think people in jail or homeless use this site

13 years ago
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haha yea

13 years ago
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All depends on the country. Jails in the Netherlands(? I think that's the one) are five star hotels and are awesome to be in.

13 years ago
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Well in most countries you need to become a real criminal to survive in jails or need to find urself a man to do that for you...

13 years ago
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yea sound like where im at now, they are opening up a drug rehab that has a Olympic sized pool, shiatsu massages, a tennis court, official sized basket ball court, arcade, and the quality of a five star hotel rooms, oh yeah they also fly our chiefs form around the world to cook for them. damn i hate philly, some times.

13 years ago
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free food vs begging and hoping for food.

I hear most prisons have tvs too!

13 years ago
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where my x friend is now he has a 36in hd tv, and a ps3 but that only where he is tho

13 years ago
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Having tried both, I can't say I care for either very much. When incarcerated, everything necessary is provided for you, but you can't really go anywhere or do anything, so it's incredibly boring. You still have some measure of freedom when homeless, though things like food can sometimes be a bit tricky. Here in the US, however, restaurant dumpsters are usually a good source of perfectly good food (protip: pizza places are great for this), so that's not even usually a very big issue. I'd definitely have to go with homeless myself. I find even the limited amount of freedom available to the indigent and the potential to keep oneself busy and engage in creative and useful activities to be infinitely preferable to the stale, boring environs of a jail or prison.

tl;dr: Homelessness is way better than being locked up.

13 years ago
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Speaks the truth.

13 years ago
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If they don't want to be poor they should just get jobs like everyone else!!! But seriously. Where's the logic in this? How is this helping them? I don't understand how people can think this is a good idea, and they're in CHARGE of a country, having direct impacts of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people's lives? It's horrifying.

13 years ago
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that's how politics are, they are supposed to be Representative of the people, but then lose touch of them when they grow fat in power.

13 years ago
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A lot of people will get laid off because of the economy, and search frantically for a job and repeatedly get turned down and after a few months pass, with little to no income, there's just no funds left to pay the bills, and that family gets evicted. This is, at least as far as I know, the case in America. I'm not knowledgeable about the Hungarian economy. Also take into account that some people at disabled and have to live off of government checks and food stamps and although the government thinks they give enough money, it's barely enough to sustain on and these people barely pass by each month. They get behind on bills because SSI isn't enough, so maybe it's possible that eventually the bank gets fed up and repossesses the house? The other problem is apartments or rented homes. Disabled or not, in most cases the land lords/owners are not very lenient or tolerant. I know that many times, if you are late on just one payment, you get kicked out. Finding a new place right away isn’t easy.

I could be inaccurate about any of this, but this is what I have come to know.

13 years ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 9 years ago.

13 years ago
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Nice try, but american dumbs won't get it, they believe everything what they hear..and spread...This sh*t had to be shared here lol

13 years ago
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Sounds to me like you are generalizing an entire nation. While I no doubt believe you think all Americans are retards I would just like to mention that we all aren't in fact morons and in fact most of us would rather enjoy it if all of our morons and loons would be removed from the gene pool. This of course includes most of our governing body at the moment.

13 years ago
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True, there are homeless shelters, but that's not why citizens aren't living there. It's that most homeless shelters are filled to the brim. People go there and get turned down because there is simply no more room for them. They are already full. It's sad.

13 years ago
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and as an american i can say that that's here too, homeless people being afraid to go to homeless shelters because of theft, and dont worry our leaders arn't so bright either, i mean one of our presidential candidates want to colonize the moon in 5 years.

13 years ago
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I'm baffled. The cruelty of this is jaw dropping. This law is . . . sick. Although jail for homeless citizens may possibly be a relief and comfort to them, the matter of them being punished for wandering around starving, in rags, without a roof over their head, is rediculously moronic. This is one of the most disgusting decisions of law enforcement that I've seen. It's like people are being punished for not having enough income at the end of the month to pay for bills. So apparently now you're a criminal if you don't have enough fancy paper.

13 years ago
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Rich get richer, the poor get prison.
Start sarcasm But think of all the free food and shelter =D I hear they also have this device called television in there, we would all be lucky to live in prison. end sarcasm

13 years ago
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that is pretty f.. up

13 years ago
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We should move all the homeless to Hungary for the lols and watch them enforce the law then.

13 years ago
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I like your style, mister.

13 years ago
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13 years ago
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Hungary is going through a lot rite now (like every other country).

This just takes the cake of absurdity though, "Fine the homeless" for being homeless? knowing they wont have money for their fine will only end up sending them to jail maybe prison eventually, Which likely is the real goal of all this.

Prisons in america for example are a multi-billion dollar industry.

13 years ago
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i feel really unconfortable because i'm from hungary and the 70% of the hungarian ppl needs the Fidesz's lies and folktales, they are making laws behind our backs, our traffics system(subways, buses,trams) is terrible, and the chairman of the BKV( hungarian traffic systeam inc) taking 5000 euro premium for nothing, they are screwing our school systems too, entire europe says the gypsy Orban doing bad but they are screwing with Brüssel too, and hiring ppl to demonstrate FOR Orban. Please understand we cant do anything about the Fidesz's stupidity, we need help, we need revoluson, maybe we need anonymus, but we dont get any , cuz our country is little and we stood to the wrong side two times in the world wars ( but we dont got chanche 'cuz we were depending from the germans).

We can not do anything agains our goverment. Dot judge the Hungarians, Judge the Fidesz.

13 years ago
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13 years ago
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Its the same everywhere my friend.

In greece they have been saying for years and years, "Todays its greece, tomorrow its you" & "The laboratory is world-wide".

13 years ago
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The law is a fail. If you're homeless, do any crime, go to jail and get free accomodation, food and healthcare. Better conditions than living day by day on the streets in the cold. It's more humane...

13 years ago
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agreed, but i dont think all jails are like that i mean have you ever seen a picture of Mexican jail

13 years ago
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Very few are as cushy as pote likes to think. While US jails are often described as being a "free 2 star hotel vacation" its nothing like that. This law is stupid and the officals behind should probably be removed from the gene pool.
Side note: prisons 10
Nice supermax

13 years ago
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too poor to have any sort of housing
$600 fine

13 years ago
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Huh, reminds me of the laws a few U.S. cities have.Yay for status quo being the number one priority of your average government.

13 years ago
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That is not how you solve homelessness.

13 years ago
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Its basically a useless law. The police isn't going to put the law in practice because they know homeless people cant afford it, also i believe the Hungarian prisons should have enough people inside them that they don't need a influx of homeless people inside.
Its sad that we arrive to this Century and still don't have basic rights regarding a home as a basic right, instead of fighting the causes that affect homeless people to be homeless Hungary is just trying to cover it up.
While it maybe easy for us here to judge the causes regarding these persons being homeless, its not normally due to Laziness or the persons internal factors, but more due to the context of their life's, it sadness me that we do animal campaigns and we pass laws that forbidden animal abandonment however most of the countries do not have laws that forbidden us to abandon our own kind.

13 years ago
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With the whole real estate crash that happened here in the last few years, there are now more vacant homes in the US than there are homeless people. True story.

13 years ago
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Oh.

I expected it to say something more like
"Those who are found to be in breach of this law will initially be given immediate access to emergency accommodation, to ensure they have somewhere safe and dry to sleep"

I know there are people in the world who actually choose to sleep on the streets, even if there is free accommodation available to them...it sounds like the majority of people that this law is aimed at are NOT in that category. Yeah, a fine that the people can't pay is REALLY going to help the situation...

13 years ago
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To be honest, such a law would do really good here in India. Of course, except that $600 fine part =| IDGAF what you think about me, but seeing the current bullshit that goes on here, I'd say it would be good riddance.

13 years ago
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Closed 13 years ago by JackHatter.