Author
| Name in English | Number of staff | Ministry responsible | Is there any political interference possible by the responsible Minister with the decision making in individual cases by the determining authority? |
| National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP) | 88 | Ministry of Interior | Yes |
Source: NDGAP, 7 February 2022.
The Asylum and Immigration Office ceased to exist on 1 July 2019 as the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP) was established taking over the responsibility for asylum and aliens policing matters.[1] The Directorate continues to be under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior and having its own budget, but operating as a law enforcement body under the Police Act.[2] While the Directorate kept the institutional structure of its legal predecessor, as being a law enforcement body, the employees – who decided to stay at the Directorate – had to enter to the police personnel and therefore, lost their government employee status. The head of Directorate is the General Director, who is appointed in the same manner as the head of the Office used to be.[3] On 31 December 2021, there were 15 case officers handling asylum cases.[4]
The NDGAP is in charge of the asylum procedure through its Directorate of Refugee Affairs (asylum authority). The NDGAP is also in charge of operating the transit zones (out of operation since 21 May 2020),[5] open reception centres and closed asylum detention facilities for asylum seekers.
According to the Justice and Law Enforcement Minister Decree no. 52/2007 (XII. 11.) on the institutional structure of asylum,[6] the authority provides regular training to its staff. Furthermore, the authority also makes sure that the personnel responsible for asylum cases obtains special knowledge on vulnerable asylum seekers, refugees, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection and beneficiaries of temporary protection.[7] According to the NDGAP, in 2020 and 2021 there were two modules of the EASO Training Curriculum available in Hungarian at the authority, titled as “Personal interview of vulnerable persons” and “Personal interview of children”.[8] In the autumn of 2020, one staff member of the NDGAP participated in the online training “Reception of Vulnerable Persons Block A: identification of vulnerability and provision of initial support (Part A)” and another staff member attended the training “Reception of vulnerable persons: needs assessment and design of interventions (Part B)”, both organized by EASO. Furthermore, one employee of the Asylum Department attended an online conference organized by EASO on the topic of “Exclusion”. In November 2021, two asylum case officers attended the training ‘Junior Asylum Registration Experts’ held in Warsaw by the EASO.[9] Furthermore, according to the NDGAP, currently there is no EASO training module that should be completed by all asylum case officers and social workers.[10] The Documentation Centre is responsible for organising trainings to the personnel of the authority regarding countries of origin and third countries.
Similarly to 2019,[11] in the year of 2020, there were 8 trainings provided for a total of 88 personnel of the Asylum Directorate of the NDGAP.[12] In 2021, 14 persons from the Asylum Directorate attended 5 trainings.[13]
According to the NDGAP, the data on the types of trainings to the case officers and the educational material that is provided and used during these trainings do not qualify as public information. Consequently, they did not provide any information on this matter. NDGAP briefly stated that case officers are obliged to attend trainings that are relevant and necessary for fulfilling their scope of activities.[14]
The Order of the NDGAP no. 1/2019. (X. 17.) on the Structure and Operation of the National Directorate of Alien Policing does not specify a unit that deals specifically with the cases of vulnerable asylum seekers. To the knowledge of HHC though there is a specialised unit for the cases of unaccompanied minors.
[1] Sections 1, 2 and 4 of the Government Decree no. 126/2019 (V.30.) on the appointment of the aliens policing body and its powers.
[2] Act XXXIV of 1994 on the Police.
[3] Section 5 point g) of the Police Act.
[4] This information was provided first time by the NDGAP, 7 February 2022.
[5] The transit zones do not host asylum seekers anymore, but they are still officially not closed, the NDGAP staff works there.
[6] Section 1(3) of the Decree 52/2007.
[7] Section 1(4) of the Decree 52/2007.
[8] Information provided by NDGAP on 2 March 2021 and on 7 February 2022.
[9] Information provided by NDGAP on 7 February 2022.
[10] Information provided by NDGAP on 7 February 2022.
[11] Information provided by NDGAP on 3 February 2020.
[12] Information provided by NDGAP on 2 March 2021.
[13] Information provided by NDGAP on 7 February 2022.
[14] Ibid.