The Foreign Minister has said Hungary refuses to recognize the passages of a United Nations declaration on universal health coverage stating that illegal migrants in UN member states should have the same access to healthcare as taxpaying citizens.
Addressing a plenary session of the UN General Assembly on universal health coverage in New York, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affars and Trade, said there were “numerous ongoing attempts” to gradually incorporate the Global Compact for Migration into international law.
The Minister accused the UN of trying to “hide” the chapters of the compact in decisions which the organization could later refer back to. The declaration on universal health coverage is one such attempt, he said, insisting that the UN was trying to force its member states to provide equal healthcare access to everyone irrespective of legal status.
The Minister said this means that an illegal migrant would be entitled to the same level of healthcare as those who have been honest taxpayers for decades. “This is unacceptable for Hungary,” he said.
Minister Szijjártó said the government rejects the idea that the UN should impose any sort of directives or legal obligations in connection with the Hungarian healthcare system. Healthcare is a national competency on which only Hungary has the right to make any decisions, he said.
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