On 12 October many refugees and migrants will vote at the local elections. Therefore MigSzol is mapping the programs related to refugees and migrants of those cities' and districts' candidates, where many refugees are living. 

We have asked the candidates of Bicske, Vámosszabadi and Debrecen, where the refugee camps are, and we asked many of the district-candidates of Budapest most importantly about how they plan to bring the refugees and the migrants closer to the local community, how refugees can have easier access to education, health care, free Hungarian courses and a human treatment by the police. 

You can read our questions here and based on the answers we will get and publish, everybody will be able to decide which candidates are really willing to act for a more inclusive local community.



Dear Candidate,

The Migrant Solidarity Group of Hungary (MigSzol) would like to inform the candidates who want to become mayors of the districts of Budapest, that many people who were granted the refugee status will be able to vote in the local elections on 12 October 2014.

According to the information gathered by MigSzol, many refugees who were freshly granted the refugee status received a letter from the local elections office informing them about the date of the elections and their right to vote. Unfortunately this letter was sent to them in Hungarian language, but MigSzol helped them understand what the letter informs them about, and MigSzol is promoting them their right to vote.
 

While Rakan was already in Hungary as an asylum-seeker, his wife and mother tragically died in February 2014 when the Syrian army bombed a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) camp. The five children of the couple, between eleven and nineteen years old, decided to flee Syria and try to join their father. After being denied entry to Lebanon and Jordan, the children managed to cross into Turkey on their own. They tried to file a family reunification visa application at the Hungarian embassy in Istanbul in order to join their father in Hungary, but the embassy rejected their applications.

Rakan is a Palestinian refugee from Syria, who came to Hungary through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia in May 2013, but then left for Denmark from where in November 2013 he was deported back to Hungary under the Dublin-law of the EU. He was granted the refugee status one week after his wife and mother were killed in February 2014. It is important to know that Palestinian-Syrian refugees are in a very special situation because they have become refugees twice: once from Palestine, and second time fleeing the brutal civil war in Syria. For background information on how the civil war affects Palestinian refugees, see the informative webpage of UNRWA, the UN Agency that especially works with Palestinian refugees. You can read more details about Rakan also in HVG (in Hungarian). In the HVG article, you can also see many pictures of his family.

Rakan's wife was working for UNRWA in Syria, and while Rakan was already in Hungary, his wife and mother tragically died when the Syrian army bombed an UNRWA refugee camp. The five children of the couple, between eleven and nineteen years old, decided to flee Syria and try to join their father. As reported in media outlets such as the Guardian and Al Jazeera , Palestinian refugees from Syria encountered problems when trying to cross the border to Lebanon and Jordan, many of whom were rejected entry into the two countries. As many other refugees fleeing the civil war,  Rakan’s children were denied entry to Lebanon and Jordan, but managed to cross into Turkey on their own. They filed a family reunification visa application at the Hungarian embassy in Istanbul in order to join their father in Hungary. Because they did not cross the border through an official border checkpoint, the embassy rejected the claim on the grounds that the children are staying in Turkey illegally and therefore do not have a Turkish entry stamp in their Syrian-Palestinian passports. By the way, this rule is against the EU-law. Meanwhile, the Hungarian state decided  to no longer  accept Syrian-Palestinian passports as travel documents.

We are glad to share with you the English translation of report on situation of refugees in Hungary, written by published by bordermonitoring.eu and Pro Asy in late 2013. Reading this report is a great opportunity, right before our demonstration in Debrecen, to read about the reasons why the work of Migszol is needed. We thank the ProAsyl researchers for the excellent research job. Highlights of the report (that includes a lot of visual illustrations, as well) include:

• The tent camps in Bicske in summer 2013 
• Detention conditions 
• Ways in which the Hungarian asylum system is a violation of EU directives 
• Access to medical care
• Criminalization of homelessness in Hungary (See AVM for more info) 
• Story of the Afghans who left Hungary last summer as reported back then by 444 

             .........and much more! 

Click on the below picture to for the PDF of the report. 

On 2 December 2013 the Migrant Solidarity Group has published on our website an open letter, in which we are writing about the police presence in the Reception Centre for Refugees in Bicske, because according to the refugees the presence of the police has a threatening effect on their everyday lives.


In the open letter – which we also sent to the police and the prosecution – we also report about an incident with an Afghan refugee, who speaks on the video made by Átlátszó. He is saying on the video how his arm got injured while the police wanted to break up a fight between other refugees. The Migrant Solidarity Group received information about the same incident from other refugees in October 2013, and in the open letter we also wrote the opinion of the refugees, according to which the police broke the arm of the Afghan refugee.

Based on the open letter and the video made by Átlátszó, the prosecution started an investigation against an unknown offender because of ill-treatment in official proceedings. The Migrant Solidarity Group welcomes the attitude of the prosecution, because this shows that the prosecution treats the case seriously. The prosecution also requested information from our Group about the Afghan refugee. Since the Migrant Solidarity Group has not been in contact with the Afghan refugee, we received his data about other refugees, who did not confirm that the police broke the arm of the Afghan refugee.

Dear Police Headquarters of Hungary,

We have been informed by the media (PrivatKopo.hu and NOL.hu) that the crime which was committed by the two Hungarian young men against a refugee – according to the information of the nol.hu – from Ivory Coast was a serious hate crime. The two Hungarians were beating the refugee from Africa with a stick. We were also informed by these sources that one of the suspects of the hate crime is a son of a local politician, who is a member of the currently governing party (Fidesz). According to the NOL.hu article which was published on 18 November, 2013, the crime is still only considered as a breach of peace with arms which is a much less serious crime than the violence against a member of a community (hate crime). For breaching the peace, the criminals can be punished with up to 3 years of imprisonment, if committed with arms, as these Hungarian suspects, whereas the offender of the violence against a member of a community can be punished by 2-8 years imprisonment, if committed with arms. According to both articles, the suspects are not in pre-trial detention, thereby still constituting a threat to the refugees of the Bicske camp.

We would like to ask the following questions from the Police Headquarters of Hungary:

Do the police still consider that the hate crime offenders only committed a breach of peace, and not a racist attack?

If the police still does not consider the attack as racially motived against the African person, is it because one of the suspects is the son of a local political, who is a member of the currently governing party (Fidesz)?

Are the suspects not in pre-trial detention, because one of the suspects is the son of a local politician, who is the member of the currently governing party (Fidesz)?

Thank you very much for the answers in advance.

Migrant Solidarity Group of Hungary

To the Police Office of Bicske

To the Office of Immigration and Nationality

The refugees in the Bicske Reception Centre have informed the members of the Migrant Solidarity Group that they the recent presence of the police inside Bicske camp is causing them great grievances. Every day, within the area of mere several hundred square meters of the camp the presence of 10 to 30 policemen triggers anxiety and bewilderment among them.

Anxiety from the mere presence of the police as it is well known that the refugees have not accidentally left their homeland. They mostly fled from armed members of the public authorities in uniform who persecuted them because of their religion, gender, race, political opinion or because of their membership of any other social group.

They feel bewilderment because no one can understand why there is a need for such a high level of police presence in a place where nobody has committed any criminal acts.


“Are we now in prison?” – a refugee child asked this question the other day and her parents could not really reassure the child.

The refugees, who live in the camp, have also reported that the police are not only intruding into the refugees’ living space, but they are also present in quite a threatening manner when the refugees share their most personal problems: for instance, in the doctor’s room during examinations or in the social worker’s office when the refugees try to inquire about work and housing opportunities.
It is not difficult to see that the presence of the policemen destroys the trust between the refugees and their helpers in these situations, which are based on confidentiality.
According to the refugees, one example for this is when some social workers or nurses threaten them with calling the police if the perplexed refugees would not leave their office.

It is not difficult to see that the presence of the policemen goes against the norms of both medical and social worker ethics. Police presence during the medical examination violates the principles of medical ethics at several points. One of the cornerstones of medical ethics is the principles of the respect for the individual that includes humanism, the respect for
human rights and dignity, and also the highest level of protection of personal integrity.

In addition, the police presence also violates the Hippocratic Oath, the teaching that has been in force for centuries, and the Article 2 (1), 10 (1) and 25 of the Healthcare Law of 1997.

Police presence during the consultation with the social worker violates Article 8, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 26 of the Code of Ethics for Social Work.

The refugees of the Bicske camp have also reported that their ID cards are checked by the policemen in the camp while they are just sitting and talking to each other.

Some refugees have also reported that in one case, a police officer used such a harsh coercive measure against a refugee that the refugee’s arm got broken during this intervention (this man can be seen in this video made by Átlátszó at 14:20).

It is totally unacceptable that the refugees are threatened by police presence and rough handling after all that they have gone through. These people suffered from persecution in their homeland and from grievances during their escape, and also had to endure
imprisonment or other inhumane detention after they arrived in Hungary.

Presumably the Office of Immigration and Nationality (OIN) is trying to prevent tensions with the presence of the police in the camp. The tensions that the office itself created by putting people, who arrived in Hungary from the world’s most hard-hit countries, into crowded, mass centers. The traumas that accumulated in the refugees will evidently end up clashing in a camp where hundreds of people live and where, apart from the daily 1-2 hour program the refugees have to live a demoted existence. The OIN’s response so far is that the refugees, most of whom have suffered from traumas, are being watched carefully by the police.

However, the Hungarian government could produce a different response. In the short run, the police, who are paid by the taxpayers, should be sent to places where they do no harm or do not waste time, but where their presence is useful.

In the short term the OIN should organize continuous programs that would help to relieve the tensions among the traumatised people living in these crowded places and also would give a new impetus to these people who are tired of life. As a solution, we also recommend the employment of a sufficient number of properly trained professionals (social workers,

doctors, nurses, administrators, etc.), whose presence and expertise would help to reduce the tensions because of which the OIN would consider the police presence necessary.

In the long term, however, it would be essential to close all these mass centers that are totally unsuitable for the integration of the recognised refugees into Hungarian society and to provide housing for them that does not separate the refugees from, but places them among the local population.

We demand that the employees of the OIN should call the police only in specific cases, when there is an imminent criminal threat, and they should not hinder further the integration of the refugees, who are already in very disadvantageous starting
position, into the Hungarian society!

Budapest, 30, November 2013 Migrant Solidarity Group

It has come to our attention (propeller.hu) that on 27 October, 2013 there were racist violent attacks against a refugee in Bicske, Hungary. The official website of the police also released a statement about the criminal acts, with the headline, that the suspects are in the hands of the police (police.hu). The statement of the police then contradicts itself by concluding, that two men are suspected with breaching the peace with arms, and they were set free by the police.

However, based on the information available, there is a reasonable suspicion that the two attackers were armed and they committed the criminal offence of “violence against a member of a community”, a hate crime which can be punished by 2-8 years of imprisonment. We emphasize that all refugees have the legal right to seek asylum in Hungary, express our solidarity with them and remind that under international law, Hungary is obliged to provide respectable living conditions for all asylum seekers and refugees.

We are informed that the area where the attacks happened are recorded with public cameras, therefore we are asking the police to use these recordings during the investigation, and to prevent the racist attackers from committing hate crimes again, initiate the pre-trial detention of the suspects. Migráns Szolidaritás is calling on Hungarian authorities to fully investigate the incident that took place last Sunday.

We trust that the local police is doing everything to find out what was the course of actions that led to the violence, and that the Hungarian authorities denounce this. Budapest, 31 October, 2013 Migrant Solidarity Group

To the Police Office of Bicske

To the Office of Immigration and Nationality

The refugees in the Bicske Reception Centre have informed the members of the Migrant Solidarity Group that they the recent presence of the police inside Bicske camp is causing them great grievances. Every day, within the area of mere several hundred square meters of the camp the presence of 10 to 30 policemen triggers anxiety and bewilderment among them.

Anxiety from the mere presence of the police as it is well known that the refugees have not accidentally left their homeland. They mostly fled from armed members of the public authorities in uniform who persecuted them because of their religion, gender, race, political opinion or because of their membership of any other social group.

They feel bewilderment because no one can understand why there is a need for such a high level of police presence in a place where nobody has committed any criminal acts.

“Are we now in prison?” – a refugee child asked this question the other day and her parents could not really reassure the child.

Six refugees from the Bicske Refugee center have moved to a homeless shelter two weeks ago (A research visit to a homeless shelter in Budapest). Migráns Szolidaritás Csoport (Migrant Solidarity Group of Hungary) does not believe this is a good solution for refugee housing problems: These shelters are far away from the Budapest city centre, it costs the refugees 1400 Ft (4.80€) to travel to the city, and they have no possibility to integrate to Hungarian society.

We strongly disagree with transferring refugees to homeless shelters on two basis: Firstly, the government’s obligation to solve housing issues is part of an integration plan and assisting refugees into society. By sending refugees into homeless shelters there will be no positive opportunity for integration.

Secondly, the homeless shelters are already nearly meeting their capacity according to a recent statement by an activist group struggling with housing issues in Budapest, A Város Mindenkie. This means it is impossible for the existing shelter system to also house thousands of refugees and asylum seekers – many of whom have left Hungary and are now in danger of being deported back to Hungary under the Dublin rules.

Migráns Szolidaritás Csoport urges the immigration office (OIN) to find a permanent solution to this problem because refugees who are given permission to stay in this country should not be placed into homeless shelters. Migráns Szolidaritás Csoport is additionally concerned that by placing the refugee families in homeless shelters Hungary will be violating the rights of children. A shelter is not a place for children who must prepare themselves for school and certainly cannot be a place to study do homework after school.

This is a terrible ‘solution’ by the Immigration office (OIN), another solution must be found.

45 refugees have been given an order to leave the pre-integration center (camp) in Bicske Hungary within 8 days, or face eviction by the police. These refugees have overstayed the maximum time allowed to them to stay in the camp. This is not the first time the Immigration Office (OIN) has sent an ultimatum threatening eviction to refugees living in the Bicske Camp.

In March 2013 a series of negotiations started that included representatives of the Bicske refugees with the help of the Migrant Solidarity Group, Menedék association, and the Immigration office to solve their housing problems and find a reasonable plan for moving out for the refugees currently living inside the camp. Unfortunately due to Immigration office’s unworkable and irresponsible ‘solution’ – homeless shelters for refugees – the negotiations stopped and threats of eviction started again.

Families with small children are not allowed to stay in homeless shelters, only in special homes for families, but the Immigration Office never gave clear numbers how much space there is in such homes for families – we can only guess that the number is not enough. During this time, the Immigration office has stopped issuing monthly allowances and support, medical care, and much needed travel passes for these refugees. In early June 2013, 71 refugees left Hungary to Germany and re-applied for asylum for humanitarian reasons.

The refugees who stayed in Hungary to try to solve their many problems found no solution either – no success was found as the Immigration Office washed its hands out of the situation and no further discussions or negotiations took place.

Among those who are currently threatened with eviction are also families with small children. No alternative accommodation is being provided. These families have attempted to find housing in Budapest with little success, and with minimal support from the Immigration Office. The money support which is given to the refugees in Hungary is not enough to rent a flat in Budapest – the city where refugees still have the most chance for integration and the least chance to be discriminated against. The lack of money support sheds light on the need for cheap social housing for refugees which should be the state’s obligation to provide for them.

We wish to draw the attention of the public to this cruel and inhumane tactic of forcing families with small children and single refugees into the street. We wish to re-establish a dialogue with the different stakeholders, including the OIN, in order to find a reasonable and adequate solution. Concerned about the violations of international and domestic law, as well as the negative impact on the health and wellbeing of the families affected, the MigSzol is urging the Hungarian authorities to call off the planned eviction and to find a lasting, adequate housing solution for all refugees. At last, we would like to emphasize that the refugees have not stayed in Bicske because of a supposed ‘unwillingness’ to move out: but rather because the process of moving out has been made extremely difficult and bureaucratic by the Immigration Office.