The End of the Right to Asylum in Hungary?
On 28th March 2017, the Hungarian Act “On the amendment of certain acts related to increasing the strictness of procedures carried out in the areas of border management” entered into force, amending five pieces of domestic legislation: the Act on Asylum, the Act on the Admission and Right of Residence of Third-Country Nationals, the Act on State Border, the Act on Minor Offences and the Act on Child Protection and Guardianship Management. The newly past law requires that all asylum-seekers must submit their application in the transit zones established at the border, where they will remain in detention for the entire asylum procedure without a detention order and therefore without the right to judicial remedies. Asylum applicants whose asylum procedure is already ongoing are also to be moved to the detention facilities in the transit zones. The Act also requires that unlawfully present non-nationals be removed from anywhere in the country “through the gate of the facility” at the border, from where they can apply for asylum in the transit zones. No legal procedure is established for this “removal”, including an effective mechanism to challenge this measure. The analysis in this blog is based on the unofficial translation of the Hungarian legislation provided by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. Likewise, the facts and figures underpinning this analysis are also those provided by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.
▻http://www.asylumlawdatabase.eu/en/journal/end-right-asylum-hungary
