Types of accommodation

Author

Hungarian Helsinki Committee Visit Website

On 31 December 2023, there were 2 open reception centres and 1 home for UaSC in Hungary.

The reception centres are:

Source: NDGAP and Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection.

There is a visible discrepancy between the numbers of occupancy and the maximum capacity of reception facilities in the table above. As of March 2017, open reception facilities were not efficiently used due to the systematic detention of asylum seekers in the transit zones until May 2020 (see Access to the Territory and Place of Detention). After May 2020, the lack of access to asylum procedure is the reason for these very low numbers. Nevertheless, due to the rescued Afghan refugees arriving to Hungary through the Hungarian Defence Forces in August 2021, both reception centres in Vámosszabadi and Balassagyarmat experienced overcrowding for a short time. The Afghan evacuees were moved to private accommodation before the end of 2021. Since their very arrival, they have been assisted by NGOs and volunteers (see more details under Differential treatment of specific nationalities in reception).

Balassagyarmat is a community shelter with a maximum capacity of 140 places for asylum seekers, beneficiaries of international protection, persons tolerated to stay, persons under immigration procedure and foreigners having been held for 12 months in immigration detention. In 2020, there were 22 asylum seekers and 93 persons under alien policing procedure placed in Balassagyarmat.[2] The NDGAP provided only an aggregated number regarding 2021 according to which there were a total of 469 persons placed in Balassagyarmat based on different legal bases.[3] Thus, the exact number of asylum seekers accommodated here was not provided. Similarly NDGAP provided only an aggregated number regarding 2022, according to which there were a total of 163 persons placed in Balassagyarmat.[4] In 2023, there were 48 persons placed in Balassagyarmat (aggregated number).[5]

Vámosszabadi Reception Centre is located outside of Vámosszabadi, close to the Slovakian border. It is a three-storey-high pre-manufactured building, which used to serve as one of the barracks of the Soviet troops stationed in Hungary.[6] Prior to 21 May 2020, the centre hosted primarily beneficiaries of international protection released from the transit zones. According to the information provided by NDGAP, people on average stayed there only 2-3 weeks before they left the country.[7] With the closure of the transit zones the number of people increased and a total of 528 persons were accommodated in Vámosszabadi in 2020. A further 52 persons under alien policing procedure were placed there, as well.[8] The NDGAP provided only an aggregated number regarding 2021 according to which there was a total of 638 persons placed in Vámosszabadi based on different legal bases.[9] Thus, the exact number of asylum seekers accommodated here was not provided. No asylum seeker was placed in Vámosszabadi in 2022 or in 2023.

The centres are managed by the asylum authority.[10] Since 2019, the reception facilities and detention centres fall under the exclusive management and supervision of the central Refugee Affairs Directorate of the NDGAP.[11]

Unaccompanied and separated children are accommodated in Fót. The Károlyi Istvány Children’s Home in Fót is a home for UaSC located in the North of Budapest and belongs to the Ministry of Human Resources. Its maximum capacity was 130 children in 2021.[12] Prior to 21 May 2020 children above the age of fourteen were detained in the transit zones (as detailed in Detention of vulnerable applicants). For 2022, the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection provided the number of maximum capacity only for UaSC, which was 34.[13]

Fót hosts UaSCs whose asylum procedure is still ongoing, recipients of refugee status, subsidiary protection and tolerated status, as well as those who are under the effect of an alien policing procedure. The Children’s Home’s closure was announced in 2016. Although a deadline to shut the Home down has been proclaimed several times, the Home remains open at the time of writing. The children and staff are constantly kept in the dark about the future of the Children’s Home and any possible plans for the future.

In 2020, Fót registered 13 unaccompanied minors out of whom two children applied for asylum. According to the information provided by the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection, the NDGAP established the responsibility of Germany for the asylum procedure and transferred the two unaccompanied minors to Germany accordingly.[14]

On 31 December 2020, there were no asylum-seeking children, but 3 minor beneficiaries of subsidiary protection resided in the facility.[15] In 2021, 3 unaccompanied asylum seekers were registered in Fót. On 31 December 2021, there were 13 unaccompanied asylum seekers registered, nevertheless, there were only 3 children present.[16] On 31 December 2022, there were 3 unaccompanied asylum seekers present, 1 with international protection status and 22 with international protection status in the aftercare.[17] On 31 December 2023, there were 3 unaccompanied asylum seekers present, 3 with international protection status, 3 with temporary protection status and 15 with international protection and 2 with temporary protection status in the aftercare.[18]

[1] The total number of residents was 10, but only 2 were asylum seekers.

[2] Information provided by the NDGAP on 2 March 2021.

[3] Information provided by the NDGAP on 7 February 2022. For instance, this number includes the 180 Afghan evacuees who were not subject to an asylum procedure.

[4] Information provided by the NDGAP on 13 February 2023.

[5] Information provided by the NDGAP on 19 February 2024.

[6] Cited from the report published by HHC, Safety Net Torn Apart – Gender-based vulnerabilities in the Hungarian asylum system, 26 June 2018, available at: http://bit.ly/2FOjALa.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Information provided by the NDGAP on 2 March 2021.

[9] Information provided by the NDGAP on 7 February 2022. For instance, this number includes the 270 Afghan evacuees who were not subject to an asylum procedure.

[10] Section 12(3) Asylum Decree.

[11] Order of the Minister of Interior no. 26/2018. (XII. 28.) amended the order of the Minister of Interior no. 39/2016. (XII. 29.) on the determination of the structural and operational order of the Immigration and Asylum Office.

[12] Information provided by the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection on 7 April 2022.

[13] Information provided by the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection on 27 January 2023.

[14] Information provided by the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection on 13 April 2021.

[15] Information provided by the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection on 13 April 2021.

[16] Information provided by the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection on 7 April 2022.

[17] Information provided by the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection on 27 January 2023.

[18] Information provided by the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection on 20 February 2024.