This is the second in our series of blog posts addressing issues related to detention of asylum seekers in Hungary - see the introduction to the series here!

On 3rd of July, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Austria’s deporting Mr. Qadam Shah Mohammadi, an asylum seeker, to Hungary would not lead to a violation of the Convention. Mr. Mohammadi alleged that deportation would lead to inhuman and degrading treatment, could subject him to detention under deplorable conditions, and that he would run the risk of being deported from Hungary to Serbia. We apologize to our readers that our reflections on the verdict come only now, two months later,  but we feel like it is absolutely crucial for us to share our thoughts, because the verdict may carry significant consequences for people's lives for years to come and also because ECHR judgements about the Hungarian asylum system are rather rare. First, let's start with some background:

Who is Mohammadi?

Before we go into our actual critique and thoughts regarding the verdict, let's look at the background of the case. Mohammadi, born probably in 1995 (he does not know his exact date of birth), is from Ghazni, Afghanistan. Six years after his father died, he fled Afghanistan and made a big part of his trip  to Europe by foot. In Greece, where the asylum system has been dysfunctional for many years, Mohammadi was not registered as an asylum seeker. Instead, he continued his way to Hungary, where he applied for asylum shortly after crossing the border.  He says there was no effective, proper age assessment completed. After a short while in  an open refugee camp in Hungary, Mohammadi continued his way to Austria, and applied for asylum in Austria. 

Visiting the Debrecen camp never comes without surprises. On July 6th, just one day after participating in the Gay Pride in Budapest, MigSzol was accompanied by a young journalist and a filmmaker from Germany to the detention camp in Debrecen. Overall, it was a nice trip, and we had inspiring conversations both with the journalists and with the residents of the The German filmmakers.

Our two young visitors from Germany aim to produce a documentary about asylum seekers and refugees in Hungary, and also to depict the situation of those who are deported back to Hungary from Germany. In the documentary, which will be televised nationwide in Germany, they also focus on the controversial phenomenon of church asylum. In Germany, many people seek asylum inside church buildings, as in the police is forbidden from entering churches; it is an emergency solution of avoiding immediate deportation.

After an unsuccessful attempt to contact the Immigration Office of Hungary to get access inside the Debrecen camp, the filmmakers were forced to conduct interviews and film their documentary from outside the camp. Hearing about MigSzol’s work with refugees and asylum seekers in the camp, the two documentarists contacted us to see if they could accompany us on one of our regular visits to Debrecen. Once we arrived there, it took us about half an hour to meet with a group of people willing to discuss their situation, and share their problems and concerns. And as usual, more and more people joined in the discussion.