Since the closure of its transit zones in 2020, Hungary has implemented a new, highly restrictive asylum procedure requiring all applicants to lodge their requests at consulates in Serbia or Ukraine. In a submission to the UPR, the GDP and Hungarian Helsinki Committee draw attention to this issue, along with other concerns related to migration detention and border enforcement measures. […]
Hungary
Immigration Detention in the European Union
This book offers a unique comparative assessment of the evolution of immigration detention systems in European Union member states since the onset of the “refugee crisis.” By applying an analytical framework premised on international human rights law in assessing domestic detention regimes, the book reveals the extent to which EU legislation has led to the adoption of laws and practices that may disregard fundamental rights and standards. […]
Hungary Immigration Detention Data Profile (2020)
Hungary Detention Data (2020) The latest detention-related data from Hungary, including immigration and detention-related statistics, domestic laws and policies, international law, and institutional indicators. View the Hungary Detention Data Profile Related Reading: Country Page: Hungary Report: Immigration Detention in Hungary – Transit Zone or Twilight Zone? Crossing a Red Line: How EU Countries Undermine the […]
Immigration Detention in Hungary: Transit Zone or Twilight Zone?
Hungary’s efforts to block asylum seekers were at the centre of an important May 2020 European Union Court of Justice ruling concerning its “transit zone” detention sites, located along the border with Serbia. For years, Hungary refused to acknowledge that people were “detained” in these facilities, going so far as to refuse the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention entry during its visit to the country in 2018. […]
Crossing a Red Line
“Crossing a Red Line” is the final report of the Red Line Project, a collaborative initiative led by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee that was aimed at documenting the shift from “reception” to “detention” in EU border regions and the implications of this shift on asylum seekers. The project also counted on the participation of the Global Detention Project, the Bulgarian Foundation for Access to Rights, the Greek Council for Refugees, and the Italian Council for Refugees. […]
NEWSLETTER: International Women’s Day – Focusing Attention on the Abuses Women Suffer in Immigration Detention
Last week, reports emerged concerning a 24-year-old Honduran woman’s premature labour and subsequent delivery of a stillborn baby while in custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Texas. While officials were quick to offer the awkward qualification that “for investigative and reporting purposes, a stillbirth is not considered an in-custody death,” the incident nevertheless added fuel to the growing criticism of the Trump administration’s treatment of vulnerable individuals in detention. […]
“Red Line”: The Rise in Detention of Asylum Seekers at the External Borders of the EU
Led by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), the “Red Line” project is working to reduce unnecessary and unlawful use of detention as a deterrence measure for asylum-seekers and irregular migrants in Europe, with a particular focus upon four key irregular migrant entry states: Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy. In many such countries, “reception” has morphed […]
International Women’s Day: Exposing the Plight of Women in Immigration Detention
This International Women’s Day, dozens of women are on hunger strike at the Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre in the UK. As they protest against the government’s “offensive” immigration practices, like the detention of people who came to the UK as children and the detention of survivors of torture, these women—some of whom are themselves victims of sexual abuse and trafficking—are being held indefinitely at a privately operated facility that has a long history of accusations of sexual abuse by its staff. […]
Immigration detention in Hungary
Hungary has experienced a surge in xenophobia and anti-migrant rhetoric recently. In 2015, the country constructed more than 200 kilometres of fences along its borders with Serbia and Croatia and amended its law to provide prison terms for those who break though these barriers. Immigration detention constitutes a key element in its deterrence efforts. While […]
