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. 

In recent weeks, Migszol started visiting the refugee camp in Debrecen – and, as a part of our outreach strategy, we will continue the visits in the future. We met with many refugees who live inside the camp, and thanks to our diverse MigSzol team, we were able to communicate with people in English, French, Albanian, Farsi and Arabic. This small report is the first of many to come, outlining and sharing our experiences of people who live within the Debrecen camp.

Background of Debrecen camp

The camp is special in many ways. It is not only the largest refugee camp in Hungary, and therefore receives much of the media attention especially from the local Debrecen region media. It also has been the location of anti-camp protests by the supporters of Jobbik, the Hungarian extreme-right political party, and its Magyar Garda paramilitary group.

Most importantly, however, the camp has a very peculiar spatial set up: in the middle of the open camp, there is a detention centre (a prison, in reality, for its inhabitants). Such a set up has a severe psychological effect on all those who are present within the camp: including refugees living within the open camp, refugees detained in it, and even the camp staff and guards.

Five asylum-seekers from Mali in Hungary went on hunger strike to protest conditions and unjust imprisonment on October 10 2013. Today they were joined by another 55 asylum-seekers, all in the  Békéscsaba detention camp.

Together they are protesting against their deprivation of liberty with an emphasis that they are not criminals but refugees. They also call the world’s attention to the inhumane conditions in the Békéscsaba prison for asylum-seekers which makes their detention unlawful.

The Migráns Szolidaritás Csoport (Migrant Solidarity Group of Hungary) demands from the both OIN (Office of Immigration and Nationality) and the Hungarian Police that they respect the hunger strikers’ right to protest and their chosen method should be respected. And, Migrant Solidarity Group also demands that these and all other asylum-seekers in Hungary be released – seeking asylum is not a crime. After a hunger strike in the prison for asylum-seekers in Nyírbátor during August, 2013, today on 10, October 2013, five asylum-seekers from Mali have started a hunger strike.

15th August 2013
Budapest, Hungary

Dear Zsuzsanna Vegh,

It has come to the attention of the Migrant Solidarity Group that in the Nyírbátor detention centre a group of asylum seekers has started a hunger strike some days ago, which since then has ceased as a result of some promises made by OIN representatives.

On 13th August 2013 members of our group spoke on the phone with some of the people who were previously on hunger strike. We were given a detailed report on the reasons why the detainees were forced to resort to a hunger strike in order to improve their situation in detention, calling the attention of the outside world on the hopelessness and the desperation of their situation.

First of all, we would like to emphasize that the Migrant Solidarity Group does not encourage anyone to go on a hunger strike, or to continue one. Nevertheless, we will not attempt to convince anyone to stop using this tactic, if they have so chosen. We consider that a hunger strike is a very personal decision made by the individuals who are directly affected by the conditions of detention, and as long as we are not in a similar situation, we cannot judge their decision. We would only ask the hunger strikers to stop their action if it is the case that someone’s life is endangered – but even then we would respect the hunger strikers’ decision if they wanted to continue protesting even when their lives are threatened.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has prepared an information note in order to provide a brief overview about the fundamental asylum-related legal amendments entering into force on 1 July 2013 in Hungary. The amendments introduce a separate detention regime for asylum-seekers, seriously weakens the judicial review of immigration and asylum detention and the right to appeal in asylum procedures, as well as it fails to ensure adequate reception conditions. The HHC notes with serious concern these changes, some of which may raise incompatibility with international human rights norms and EU law.

The note  describes

• the legal situation between  January and June 2013,
• asylum detention,
• judicial review in asylum procedures and
• reception conditions.

In concluding the note the HHC raises its concerns that:

• no proper impact assessment was carried out before the amendments and
• key stakeholders were not provided with adequate time to consult and comment on the amendments.

The HHC will closely monitor the implementation of the amended regulation in the forthcoming months.

The paper can be downloaded here.

Statement of the European Refugee Council (ECRE):

This Monday, ahead of the European Parliament’s vote on Wednesday that formally adopted the recast Reception Conditions Directive, the Hungarian government amended its asylum legislation which will introduce the detention of asylum seekers for up to six months. Both UNHCR and ECRE’s Member, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) have warned that the grounds for detaining persons seeking international protectionare too broad, and as a result, there is a significant risk of the widespread detention of asylum seekers. Marta Pardavi, Co-Chair at HHC has critised the aim of the legislation:

"The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has always been against the detention of asylum seekers as a general measure and strongly recommends considering alternatives to detention in each individual case. We are concerned that the sole aim of this new measure is to deter asylum seekers from entering the EU through Hungary in order to seek protection. This way, Hungary essentially shifts its responsibilities to Serbia and other countries."

According to UNHCR, under the new Hungarian law, detention would be applied as a tool for migration control, penalising unauthorised entry and preventing unlawful onward movements, which would also run counter to the conditions in the European Convention of Human Rights (Right to Liberty and Security, Article 5) which would mean that a suit could be filed before the European Court of Human Rights. Among other grounds, the amendments introduce the possibility to detain asylum seekers to establish their identity or nationality, and when “there are well-founded grounds for presuming that the person seeking recognition is delaying or frustrating the asylum procedure or presents a risk of absconding”.

UNHCR has noted that most asylum seekers are unable to provide identification documents and that this should not automatically result in detention or be interpreted as unwillingness to cooperate. The legislation also allows the detention of families with children, which has been strongly opposed by UNHCR and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. Another major concern for UNHCR is the effectiveness of the judicial review which re-examines the lawful ness of the detention. According to a survey conducted by the Curia, the highest court in Hungary, out of some 5,000 court decisions made in 2011 and 2012 only three decisions discontinued immigration detention, while the rest simply prolonged the detention without any specific justification. UNHCR has also underlined that no budgetary impact analysis has been made available documenting the costs that will be incurred by implementation of asylum detention. Currently, asylum seekers in Hungary are detained under specific and exceptional circumstances. The new provisions will enter into force as of 1 July.