Letter: Refugees to the UK: Hungary 1956, Bosnia 1992
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir: There are two articles at the top of page three in your paper today (13 August). One is mainly about a young Bosnian who was not allowed to enter this country as a refugee; the other is about the Hungarian refugees of 1956, who were welcomed with open arms.
I would imagine that your intention was for the readers to compare the two cases and to highlight the shabby treatment Mirza Muhic received. So let us compare them.
While UN soldiers and helpers from faraway lands lay down their lives in aid of Mr Muhic's compatriots, he is simply not prepared to fight for them. First, he fled to Turkey; and, when reminded by other Bosnians that his place is in the army at home, he fled again, to Britain, to be let alone. His treatment here was unwarrantedly harsh; but, still, I cannot feel all that great sympathy for him.
The Hungarians of 1956 had finished their fight. A lost fight, fought for Western ideas, partly for Western interests, without any help from anybody. There were no foreign observers, helpers or soldiers to supervise the behaviour of the victorious Soviets.
The comparison does not work for Mr Muhic. To attempt it is an insult to those Hungarians.
Yours faithfully,
E. HEVEZI
London, SW16
13 August
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