The Danish Refugee Appeals Board issued a decision yesterday to suspend transfers to Hungary under the Dublin Regulation in four cases.
The Refugee Appeals Board relied on recent information documenting the risk of arbitrary detention and refoulement to Serbia facing asylum seekers in Hungary following the latest asylum reform entering into force on 28 March 2017, as well as the Ilias and Ahmed v. Hungary ruling of the European Court of Human Rights and UNHCR’s call for the suspension of transfers to Hungary.
On that basis, the Appeals Board found that asylum seekers returned to Hungary would be detained in the transit zones and would not have access to an asylum procedure with the necessary protection against refoulement. Transfers to Hungary under the Dublin Regulation would therefore violate the right to liberty and the requirements of the recast Reception Conditions Directive. The systemic deficiencies in the asylum procedure and reception conditions of the Hungarian system led the Appeals board to warrant a suspension of the Dublin transfers.
For further information:
- ECRE, Legal Note: Asylum in Hungary: Damaged beyond repair? March 31, 2017
- UNHCR, UNHCR urges suspension of transfers of asylum-seekers to Hungary under Dublin, April 10, 2017
- Denise Venturi, The ECtHR Ruling in Ilias and Ahmed: ‘safe third country’ concept put to the test, April 13, 2017
- AIDA, Country Report Hungary, 2016 Update, February 2017
Photo: (cc) Rebecca Roeske 2016, visit to Roeszke and Tompa