HUNGARY /УНГАРИЈА
Hungarian refugees afraid of burying son here and being deported
PDLaslo02 The body of Laszlo Balogh, 11, lies in the Hamilton General Hospital morgue, until his family can raise enough money to fly him back to Hungary to be buried. He died in a hit-and-run collision near Beamsville, Ont. last Tuesday.
Pawel Dwulit/Toronto Star
A mother’s sobs echoed through a Parkdale church Sunday, as a community gathered to mourn 11-year-old Laszlo Balogh, killed last week in a horrific hit and run crash on Queen Elizabeth Way.
Her grief is only worsened by not being able to lay her son to rest.
The Hungarian Roma family is struggling with the decision of where to bury Laszlo, as they await results of their asylum claim.
“They don’t want to be sent back to Hungary and have the body of their son buried here,” said Gina Csanyi-Robah, director of the Roma Community Centre and organizer of the memorial.
The family has been living in Toronto for a year and a half. Their first asylum hearing was delayed, and relatives have already been rejected. The process could take up to three years, said Csanyi-Robah.
In the meantime, Laszlo’s body remains in the Hamilton General Hospital morgue, until the family can raise enough money to fly him back to Hungary to be buried.
“Like many Roma people, they have lost hope,” said Csanyi-Robah. “If only they wouldn’t give up on Canada, then maybe this little boy could be laid to rest.”
Last week’s tragic crash has sent shock waves through the small, close-knit Roma community in Parkdale.
Nine people, including several members of Laszlo’s extended family, were returning from a trip to Niagara Falls at around 3 a.m. Tuesday.
Near Beamsville, Ont., the minivan was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer and rolled over, killing Laszlo and sending eight others, including an infant, to hospital.
Sandor Katlan, a 23-year-old father of two, remains in a coma, his wife said at the memorial.
The tractor-trailer did not stop and was found two days later at a Brampton repair shop. Police say they know who the driver is, but he has yet to be found.
At least one of the Baloghs’ relatives in the minivan had already had their asylum claim rejected, said Csanyi-Robah.
“That was part of the reason they went to Niagara Falls that day… to spend the day with the family, because they knew that soon they weren’t going to be together any longer,” she said.
At the memorial Sunday, Laszlo’s family, friends and teachers remembered him as a cheerful boy who loved soccer and was fiercely protective of his three brothers and sister.
His aunt, Gabriella Kirn Belane, said Laszlo’s death was a terrible loss for the family.
“He was a happy child. He was full of life. He always smiled and helped everybody around. He was a leader,” she said, speaking through a translator.
A donation fund for the family will be set up by the community centre.
Laura Kane, The Toronto Star