The resettlement of Hungarian refugees in 1956

Following the 1956 Hungarian uprising, approximately 200,000 people fled to Austria and Yugoslavia. An international effort led to the resettlement of nearly 180,000 Hungarians across 37 countries within three years. The document highlights the contrast between Sweden's rapid response, which saw over 7,300 refugees resettled by 1958, and Norway's more cautious approach, which focused initially on financial aid before resettling nearly 1,500 people by the end of 1957.

• Following the suppression of the October 1956 uprising, approximately 180,000 Hungarians fled to Austria and 20,000 to Yugoslavia. In a demonstration of international solidarity, nearly 180,000 refugees were resettled across 37 countries within a three-year period.
• The resettlement process was initiated by urgent appeals from Austrian Interior Minister Oskar Helmer to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration on 5 November 1956, requesting financial support and the relocation of refugees to third countries.
• Sweden responded rapidly to the crisis, with Minister Ulla Lindström deciding to resettle refugees by 6 November 1956. Sweden advocated for the inclusion of 'harder' cases, such as the old and sick, and resettled more than 7,300 Hungarians by the end of 1958.
• Norway adopted a more cautious 'wait and see' approach, initially providing 70,000 Norwegian Krone for emergency relief on 27 October 1956 and preferring financial assistance over direct resettlement. Direct resettlement only began on 13 December 1956, with nearly 1,500 Hungarians, including tuberculosis patients, resettled by the end of 1957.

APA

Cellini, A. (2017). The resettlement of Hungarian refugees in 1956. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/1fc9da22-0d31-4008-9059-5b4ed488506c/The resettlement of Hungarian refugees in 1956.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Cellini, Amanda. The resettlement of Hungarian refugees in 1956. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2017. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/1fc9da22-0d31-4008-9059-5b4ed488506c/The resettlement of Hungarian refugees in 1956.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cellini |first1=Amanda |title=The resettlement of Hungarian refugees in 1956 |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=February 2017 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/1fc9da22-0d31-4008-9059-5b4ed488506c/The resettlement of Hungarian refugees in 1956.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cellini2017resettlement, author = {Cellini, Amanda}, title = {{The resettlement of Hungarian refugees in 1956}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2017}, month = feb, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/1fc9da22-0d31-4008-9059-5b4ed488506c/The resettlement of Hungarian refugees in 1956.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }