On Wednesday, the Hungarian parliament passed a very controversial legislation. Anyone that helps asylum seekers, can now be found guilty and sentenced up to a year in prison. Viktor Orban‘s government is calling this legislation the "Stop Soros Law.“ That refers to the billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who has been accused of helping Muslim migrants. Soros is a Hungarian-American businessman, one of the world‘s most renowned financial investors according to BBC. He has spent billions of his own money, funding various human rights projects all around the world and has been very vocal about world economics and global politics.

But now, Hungary seeks to put an end to that.

Legislation passed with overwhelming majority of votes

Prime Minister Orban has accused George Soros of meddling in domestic politics and supporting Muslim migrants. When campaigning, Orban's government won over the majority of the nation by claiming that Mr Soros wanted to flood Europe with Muslim immigrants. In the 2015 migrant crisis, some 400,000 people travelled through Hungary, and Mr Orban then ordered fences erected, in an attempt to stop the people from entering the country.

The "Stop Soros Law“ legislation was passed in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday by an overwhelming majority, 160 votes against 18. Under the new law, any "organisational activities“ that are aimed towards helping immigrants who are not entitled to protection, becomes a criminal offence.

It also includes measures to further restrict asylum rules. For example, anyone who wants to enter Hungary from a third country and is not considered to be a threat to national security, would not be able to claim protection.

Number seeking asylum dropped to 3,200 last year

The voting in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, came only hours after various European leaders agreed to sit down and have crisis talks over how to overhaul asylum rules.

The legislation has not been without criticism, however. Critics have pointed out that any organisations that offer legal advice to immigrants, or any charity that offer them support, could be charged with criminal activity. They say that the legislation is simply too vague. Many of those organisations and charities insist they are only helping those entering the country legally. The United Nations Refugee Agency has also urged Hungarian officials to scrap the legislation. In 2015, 177,000 people sought asylum in Hungary. Last year, that number had dropped to 3,200.