Hundreds of Hungarian Roma to travel to Canada visa free

Hundreds of Roma from Mohacs, S Hungary, are expected to travel to Canada as a result of the lifting of the visa requirement for citizens of Hungary, a Roma leader told Tuesday’s regional daily Uj Dunantuli Naplo.

At first, only a few Roma are likely to fly to Canada to assess the opportunities and if they have favourable experiences, then more others will follow, Istvan Kovacs said. Many of the Roma are unable to support themselves at home and they have no other option but to leave, Kovacs added.

According to the new regulations announced by the Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley, citizens of Hungary, Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia may travel visa-free to Canada for stays of up to six months but they must not seek employment. However, this is not likely to hold back members of the Roma community in Mohacs from trying their luck in Canada, the paper said.

Canada re-introduced the visa regime with Hungary on December 5, 2001, after its authorities found that too many Hungarian citizens — mainly Roma — were seeking asylum status in Canada.