Barbed wire fences, barely food and rapid expulsion: The situation of refugees in Hungary has long been criticized by the EU. Now the Council of Europe has warned the country that the state of emergency is unjustified.
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, has criticized the emergency in Hungary as a result of the refugee crisis as unjustified. The number of people who reached Hungary has fallen sharply, according to Mijatovic. Nevertheless, the migration emergency called for in 2016 is maintained by the government of Viktor Orban. Mijatovic called on the Hungarian government to end this state of emergency.
This allows police to expel juvenile and adult migrants from non-EU countries from Hungary, even if they seek asylum, according to the report of the Council of Europe. From September 2018 to January 2019, only seven migrants would have received political asylum.
Apparently violence against migrants
Mijatovic also expressed concern about the apparent use of violence against migrants. She demanded an investigation of all incidents. In addition, migrants who had been taken into custody in the transit zone had been deprived of food, criticized the report.
The country also makes it more difficult for migrants to apply for asylum, the commissioner complained. Since Serbia is recognized by Hungary as a safe third country and applications for protection could only be filed in the transit zone between the two countries, it would be virtually impossible to apply for asylum. In two transit zones on the Serbian border, migrants are de facto imprisoned behind high barbed wire fences. The Hungarian government must immediately end this „inhumane treatment“.
Refugees from 14 years treated like adults
Mijatovic was particularly concerned about the situation of unaccompanied minor refugees. In Hungary, migrants aged 14 and over are treated as adults and also imprisoned in transit zones, criticized the Human Rights Commission. This violates international treaties such as the UN Convention on the Protection of Children, which places minors under special protection.
Mijatovic had spent four days in February on the human rights situation in Hungary. She met members of the right-wing conservative government under President Orban, parliamentarians and non-governmental organizations.
Hungary rejects allegations
The Hungarian Government rejected the allegations and accused the Commissioner of inconsistency. On the one hand, she explains that the number of asylum seekers is falling sharply, on the other hand, she complains that only a small number in the transit zone can make their application. The state of emergency is justified because of the large number of migrants in the nearby countries of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and northern Macedonia. This does not infringe any EU or international law.
Hungary replied that the migrants can leave the transit zone at any time in the direction of Serbia and buy food there as well.
Asylum policy in Hungary more often in focus
Restrictive Hungarian asylum policy has repeatedly been criticized by the EU, the UNHCR and human rights organizations for violating international law. The EU initiated criminal proceedings against the right-wing conservative government in Budapest last September, which may lead to the withdrawal of voting rights in the Council of Ministers. According to the EU Treaty, such a procedure is possible if a country systematically violates the basic democratic values of the European Union.
