Blaha Lujza square is the intersection of Budapest’s 7th and 8th district. Many of us often pass through it — for example, on the 4-6 tram or the number 7 bus. On 4 April, the Negyed7Negyed8 Festival started a week long celebration the 7th and 8th district and MigSzol was invited to participate. The festival opening at the Blaha Lujza square was especially about the square itself, and the people living in and around it.
MigSzol was happy to join Negyed7Negyed8’s Blaha Port because we know that many people living in the 7 and 8th districts of Budapest are not Hungarian citizens - and oftentimes they face many problems, for example the many challenges when they apply to become Hungarian citizens.
MigSzol was happy to join Negyed7Negyed8’s Blaha Port because we know that many people living in the 7 and 8th districts of Budapest are not Hungarian citizens - and oftentimes they face many problems, for example the many challenges when they apply to become Hungarian citizens.
Recently MigSzol members invented a new board game called ‘Citizenship!’ to help illustrate to the Hungarian public the immense difficulties and hurdles to be overcome to become a citizen of Hungary. For Hungarians and non-Hungarians alike, our Citizenship board game illustrates some of the experiences about this lengthy procedure, how it works (and many times does not work) for people with refugee status. The steps on the game follow the challenges to receive a better status, and then to find a flat when they leave the camp, look for a job, and the difficult struggle to learn Hungarian, and more.
Those who played our game at the Blaha Port quickly learned that as recognised refugees they could only apply for citizenship after 3 years of living in Hungary. For this, they need many documents as proof of their accommodation and employment in Hungary. Yet, even with the fulfilment of all of these and other requirements there is no automatic success. Blaha gamers found that they could easily just roll the dice one more time, but in real life it can mean years of frustration.
We, in MigSzol, think that it’s unacceptable that the Hungarian state plays with other people’s lives like this and we support a fairer system to attain citizenship that is available to all who live in Hungary.
Those who played our game at the Blaha Port quickly learned that as recognised refugees they could only apply for citizenship after 3 years of living in Hungary. For this, they need many documents as proof of their accommodation and employment in Hungary. Yet, even with the fulfilment of all of these and other requirements there is no automatic success. Blaha gamers found that they could easily just roll the dice one more time, but in real life it can mean years of frustration.
We, in MigSzol, think that it’s unacceptable that the Hungarian state plays with other people’s lives like this and we support a fairer system to attain citizenship that is available to all who live in Hungary.
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