Hungarian Deputy State Secretary Tristan Azbej said the persecution of Christians is “a humanitarian disaster that has remained purposefully concealed.”
Speaking at an international conference in Vienna on May 27, 2019, Azbej told 160 experts that Hungary is the first country to launch an agency specifically to help persecuted Christians in the world, reports Hungary Today. The initiative, called Hungary Helps Agency, assists displaced Christians and victims of religion-based hate crimes.
Our goal is to win the support of as many governments as possible. —Tristan Azbej, Hungarian Deputy State Secretary
Azbej called on other nations to unite with the Hungarian government in its goal to help religious minorities in the world. “Our goal is to win the support of as many governments as possible.”
Launched in 2017, ‘Hungary Helps’ has helped 35,000 people in Africa and the Middle East. Recently, the agency has pledged roughly $31,000 to help the survivors of the Sri Lanka bombings last Easter Sunday, reports Church Militant.
Hungary Helps donated $1.7 million to support three hospitals in Syria, which offer free medical assistance to the poor. It also donated $2 million to rebuild the Iraqi town of Tel Askuf damaged by ISIS and to enable displaced Christians to return home.
In a tweet, Azbej wrote, “We’re considering a larger donation to the Christian churches targeted by these horrific acts of terror.”
The state secretary for aiding persecuted Christians added that, the Hungarian government is “running programs in five Middle Eastern and two sub-Saharan countries” with “one of the most extensive programs [being] the reconstruction of the city of Tel Askuf in Northern Iraq.”
Hungary Helps also coordinates various programs to assist Christians in Egypt, Nigeria and Lebanon.
