Author
In 2022 and 2023, asylum seekers were never left without accommodation due to a shortage of places in reception centres.
Overall conditions
There is no regulation on the minimum surface area, the minimum common areas or on the minimum sanitary fittings regarding reception centres.[1] In all centres, residents get 3 meals per day. Minor children, pregnant women and nursing mothers receive five meals a day.[2] The Decree 52/2007 stipulates the amount of nutritional value that must be provided at the open reception facilities and states that religious diets are to be respected in all facilities.[3] There were no related complaints reported in the last years, including 2023.
In all centres, regular cleaning is arranged, and the number of toilets and showers are sufficient in all facilities during regular occupancy. There has been no concerning complaint noted by the Menedék Association in the last years. Not every door is lockable which does not guarantee a sufficient level of privacy. Nonetheless, since 2018 there has been no complaint recorded in this regard either.
Residents share rooms. Families are accommodated in family rooms. Every facility has computers, community rooms and sport fields.
There have been no problems reported regarding religious practices.
Activities in the centres
Activities by the asylum authority’s social workers are less varied compared to prior to 2018. Since then, community activities have been mainly provided by NGOs in reception facilities. However, the number of organisations in the field has also decreased due to funding limitations. Exceptionally, in 2020, one social worker of the NDGAP provided child-specific development programmes and another offered Hungarian language classes for children in Vámosszabadi. According to the HHC’s knowledge, the services were provided with less intensity in Balassagyarmat. The community room in Vámosszabadi was closed down and residents could not use it until early 2020 when, upon the Menedék Association’s request, the room was re-opened, and thus children could again play with the toys stored in it. The internet room became accessible again in both reception facilities. In spring 2021, an initiative aiming at providing Hungarian classes was proposed, but due to lack of interest by the residents it did not materialise. The activities in Fót also lack frequency and are organised on an ad hoc basis. In 2023, no activities were provided in neither of the two centres and no NGOs or church organisations visited the centres.
Between January and September 2021, due to the pandemic and the low number of residents, the Menedék Association kept in contact with the families living in Vámosszabadi and Balassagyarmat exclusively online. Once a family left the camps, the organisation developed an active relationship with them. From September until November 2021, they were present in the reception facilities on a weekly basis and organised orientation discussions and community activities. In 2022, as well as in 2023, Menedék Association was not present in Vámosszabadi neither in Balassagyarmat shelters. The organisation has been present in Fót twice a week. The focus of the sessions continued to be on creating a sense of safe space, as well as on information transfer, orientation and school integration.
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has been also present in Fót since autumn 2019. In 2020 and 2021 the organisation offered programs for the children on a weekly basis. In 2022, the organisation offered weekly Hungarian language as a foreign language classes and informal supportive conversations for unaccompanied minors. JRS continued with their activities in 2023 as well.
In 2023, the Cordelia Foundation did not provide psychosocial services in Vámosszabadi, Balassagyarmat and Fót.
[1] EASO, Description of the Hungarian asylum system, May 2015, available at: https://bit.ly/2GS9E4H, 10.
[2] Information received on 25 June 2024 in the context of the authorities’ comments on this report.
[3] Section 3(1a) of Decree 52/2007.