Reception Conditions

Author

Hungarian Helsinki Committee Visit Website

Short description of the reception system

From March 2017 until 21 May 2020 the main form of reception was detention, carried out in the transit zones. Following the FMS and Others judgment,[1] open reception centres gained back their role for a short period of time, when all the 280 asylum seekers detained in transit zones were transferred to one of the open reception facilities. However, by the end of July the number of residents in Vámosszabadi and Balassagyarmat had significantly decreased. After the entry into force of the new ‘Embassy procedure‘, only 12 new applicants entered Hungary in 2020 and 2021 and were subsequently placed in Vámosszabadi. According to the NDGAP, on 31 December 2021 there were no asylum seekers in Vámosszabadi and only 5 asylum seekers in Balassagyarmat. In 2022 there were no residents in Vámosszabadi during the whole year and in Balassagyarmat, on 31 December 2022, there was 1 asylum seeker. In 2023 there were no asylum seekers in Vámosszabadi during the whole year, only 2 persons with temporary protection. On 31 December 2023, there were 2 asylum seekers accommodated in Balassagyarmat.

Afghan evacuees rescued by the Hungarian Defence Forces were also accommodated in the reception centres of Vámosszabadi and Balassagyarmat leading to the overcrowding of the facilities. Nevertheless, since they were channelled towards a residence permit procedure, they were not registered as asylum seekers and therefore do not appear in the asylum statistics. Their residence in the reception centres was temporary, lasting for a short period between the end of August and the end of October 2021. At the end of 2021, they were transferred to be under the care of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta.[2]

All in all, due to the low number of asylum seekers, the role of open reception centres remained limited in the Hungarian asylum system.

A. Access and forms of reception conditions

1. Criteria and restrictions to access reception conditions
2. Forms and levels of material reception conditions
3. Reduction or withdrawal of reception conditions
4. Freedom of movement

B. Housing

1. Types of accommodation
2. Conditions in reception facilities

C. Employment and education

1. Access to the labour market
2. Access to education

D. Health care

E. Special reception needs of vulnerable groups

F. Information for asylum seekers and access to reception centres

1. Provision of information on reception
2. Access to reception centres by third parties

G. Differential treatment of specific nationalities in reception

[1] CJEU, Joined Cases C-924/19 PPU and C-925/19 PPU, FMS and Others v Országos Idegenrendészeti Főigazgatóság Dél-alföldi Regionális Igazgatóság and Országos Idegenrendészeti Főigazgatóság, 14 May 2020.

[2] Information added after receipt of the comments of the Ministry of Interior in the context of the right of reply on 25 June 2024.