On 10 October 2019, the European Commission issued a reasoned opinion to Hungary concerning the failure to provide food for individuals held in transit zones at the Hungarian-Serbian border. This next step of the infringement procedure comes after the European Court of Human Rights had to issue interim measures in numerous cases.
The Commission notes that failure to provide food to persons held in transit zones is in direct contradiction to Hungary’s obligations under European law. The persons affected are primarily those who have had applications for international protection rejected and are therefore waiting to be returned to their country of origin. Indeed, the statement adds that compelling persons to stay in the transit zones while they await orders to be returned to their country of origin is effectively equal to detention.
The Commission has encouraged the Hungarian authorities to promptly comply with European law, setting a one month deadline for the State to respond. If this deadline is not met, the Commission may refer the issue to the Court of Justice, where a similar case concerning the detention of asylum seekers in Hungarian transit zones is currently pending. Moreover, the Commission notes that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has intervened in several cases obliging Hungarian authorities to provide food for those detained and awaits a response from the Hungarian authorities on this matter.
ECRE member the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) has challenged the practices of the Hungarian Immigration and Asylum Office (IAO) on a case by case basis at the ECtHR to stop the starvation of detainees. Since August 2018, the ECtHR issued 16 cases of interim measures under Rule 39 to the Government of Hungary, to ensure that people detained in the Hungarian transit zones are not deprived of food, according to HHC.
For further information:
- ECRE, ECtHR: Freedom of the Press to Report on the Living Conditions in Reception Centres, October 2019
- ECRE, Hungary: Government Extends the “State of Crisis due to Mass Migration”, September 2019
- AIDA, Hungary: New police department takes over responsibility for asylum, 19 June 2019
- ECRE, Hungarian Helsinki Committee Update Reveals Continued Violations in Transit Zones, April 2019
- ECRE, Hungary Gives Afghan Families ‘an Offer You Can’t Refuse’, May 2019
- ECRE, Hungary: Constitutional Court fails to give sufficient protection to people and organisations working to protect the rights of asylum seekers, March 2019
- AIDA, Country Report Hungary, 2018 Update, March 2019
- HHC/ECRE, Crossing a Red Line: How EU Countries Undermine the Right to Liberty by Expanding the Use of Detention of Asylum Seekers upon Entry, 8 February 2019
Photo: (CC) Rebecca Harms, May 2016
This article appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin . You can subscribe to the Weekly Bulletin here.