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Hungary Suspends Practice of Denying Food at Border, Group Says

Hungary Suspends Practice of Denying Food at Border, Group Says

(Bloomberg) -- Hungarian authorities have resumed providing food to all asylum seekers at the country’s southern border following uproar over the denial of provisions for recent arrivals, according to a human rights group that’s monitoring the situation.

Authorities found a “legal loophole” that allowed them to start providing food at centers for processing asylum applications, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee said in a statement on its website. The group called on the government to modify recently tightened anti-immigration laws, saying the denial of food is one of the “gravest violations of human rights.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was among the first leaders to build a fence to repel migrants following the biggest wave of arrivals to Europe since World War II. He won re-election in April on an anti-immigration platform that’s been adopted by populist leaders around Europe.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoltan Simon in Budapest at zsimon@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Andras Gergely, Michael Winfrey

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