Mezokeresztes, Hungary — A new “self-identity” law has sparked controversy across Hungary, with critics accusing it of encouraging the segregation of minority communities, such as Roma people, with exclusionary housing regulations.

Parliament enacted the so-called “law on protecting local self-identity” in June, empowering municipalities to regulate real estate purchases.

More than a dozen emptied-out plots and crumbling dwellings mark the former homes of Roma families in Mezokeresztes, the first settlement to implement the law that is allegedly being used to kick people out of their homes.

The town of about 3,500 inhabitants used the law to advance a decade-old scheme of purchasing run-down homes from residents, before withdrawing it after media criticism.

“We heard the mayor wants to

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