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Features

Hungarian Refugee Camp Closed After European Court Ruling

May 22, 2020
Aida Ghajar
5 min read
In 2018, the starvation of asylum seekers in Hungary was forced into the spotlight
In 2018, the starvation of asylum seekers in Hungary was forced into the spotlight
According to international law, Hungary can keep asylum seekers in these detention centres for up to four weeks - but some have been held for more than a year
According to international law, Hungary can keep asylum seekers in these detention centres for up to four weeks - but some have been held for more than a year
Refugees have recounted being beaten and humiliated, and said police dogs were set on them
Refugees have recounted being beaten and humiliated, and said police dogs were set on them

Following complaints by four Iranian and Afghan asylum seekers over their long-term detention at the Rojke Camp in Hungary, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the keeping of refugees in the camp on the Serbian border – which looks, to all intents and purposes, like a detention center – was illegal.

The ECJ ruled that Hungary should allow asylum seekers to be transferred elsewhere as soon as possible. Now, a week after the move, Hungary has announced that it will close down the camp.

Less than a year ago the European Commission filed a complaint against Hungary for starving refugees on this site and at another camp in the Tompa region. Although international condemnation has now caused this camp to close, Hungarian officials have warned the mechanism for new arrivals to apply for asylum is now likely to get even more difficult.

 

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On Thursday, May 21, Gergely Gulyas, a Hungarian government official, announced that the ECJ had ordered the closure of the Rojke transit camp: a notorious facility home to more than 300 asylum seekers. Videos surfaced on social media of asylum seekers packed onto buses bound for other "open" or "semi-open" accommodation centers. Gulyas also stressed that the camp, or as the ECJ called it the "detention center", was intended to protect Hungary's borders.

Hungary fenced off its border with Serbia in 2015, when new borders opening with the EU saw many asylum seekers and migrants head for western Europe. Since then, two transit areas have been designated for entry into Hungary: one at Rojke and the other at Tompa. Since then, asylum seekers have been forced to cross these areas to enter the country. According to international law, Hungary could have kept the asylum seekers in these detention centers for up to four weeks. But it gradually became clear that many migrants had been in the camps for more than a year.

Last year, a case against Hungary was filed with the ECJ on behalf of four Iranian and Afghan asylum seekers. The complainants had been held at the facility for months without being allowed to leave, or even have their asylum applications reviewed or answered. The four were deported to Serbia in April last year after their applications were rejected, but the Serbian government did not accept them on its soil either, and so they remained in Rojke detention center.

After examining the case, the ECJ ruled that the Hungarian government had committed a "criminal act” and convicted it of "depriving asylum seekers of their right to a free life."

Gulyas, Hungary’s current Minister for the Prime Minister’s office, has described the ruling as "unfortunate". He said it would be harder for others to apply for asylum from now on, and applicants would have to apply outside the country and through the relevant embassies.

 

Closure of the Camp: What Brought This About?

Prior to the ruling Hungary’s treatment of asylum seekers detained at the Rojke Camp had been the subject of protests and legal action. Last year the European Commission filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Hungary for "starving refugees". Following the complaint, the ECHR noted that at least 16 lawsuits had been filed since August 2018 in which Hungary was accused of failing to provide food for asylum seekers.

At the time, Hungarian officials denied the allegations, saying the refugees were not in detention and could go to Serbia for food. But these individuals had crossed Serbia in order to get to Hungary. Hungary is not the final destination for asylum seekers, but it falls on the way to western and northern Europe. Serbia does not accept asylum seekers who have already passed through Hungary on its soil, while the Hungarian Interior Ministry has said it does not provide food to people whose asylum applications had been rejected and who need to leave the country.

Those who are denied asylum in Hungary usually have two options: either to go to Serbia or return to their home countries, or the country they came from. But Serbia has refused to accept asylum seekers since 2015.

In 2018, the starvation of asylum seekers in Hungary was forced into the spotlight after a United Nations reporter visited the country. According to the UN, Hungary provides men with less nourishment than women and children, and those whose asylum claims have been rejected have been denied food rations.

Many refugees have recounted violent clashes with Hungarian border police or officials in refugee camps. They were beaten and humiliated, they have said, and police dogs were let loose on them.

The Hungarian court has also absolved third parties who enacted violence on refugees. When thousands of asylum seekers fleeing conflict in the Middle East, most notably Syria, arrived on to European shores in 2015, the Hungarian camerawoman Petra Lazlo was prosecuted for kicking a father fleeing police violence while holding his child on the Serbian border. Video footage of the incident was shared all over the world. Lazlo was charged in 2017 with "disturbing public opinion" and was fired from her channel, N1TV. But the prosecutor in the case said there was no evidence of "racist" behavior and in October 2018, the camerawoman was acquitted in Hungarian Supreme Court of all charges, with the court merely declaring that her actions had been "wrong."

During the Second World War, Hungarians were among the largest immigrant and refugee populations. Based on the country’s policies today, this would never be apparent. Hungary was among the countries to join the EU during its final round of expansion in 2004, and is today ruled by right-wing, anti-immigrant groups. In April, the European Court of Justice ruled that various countries, including Hungary, had been refusing to accept asylum seekers and in so doing, had violated their obligations under EU law.

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