Detained asylum seekers v. Hungary: 2:0 again at the European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found the detention of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s two asylum seeker clients unlawful in today’s judgement against Hungary. The young men, from Afghanistan and Algeria, were in asylum detention for five and two months, which was not justified for even a single day.

The Hungarian authorities arbitrarily violated the personal liberty of both refugees. The ECtHR refused the government’s argument that they were detained to prove their identity and prevent their alleged escape from the authorities as illegitimate. Apart from the fact that these reasons were not well founded, the detention of the applicants who had been granted a residence permit in the asylum procedure happened without a proper legal basis, in breach of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Afghan M. N. had several reasons to flee his country in 2015. Besides escaping the war-torn country fearing the Taliban, he risked becoming a target of bloodshed as a result of a family-related land dispute. The Hungarian authorities detained him for almost five months, failing to consider the applicant’s individual circumstances, his poor health, and the favourable judgments of the courts in the asylum procedure, which showed that the delay was not the applicant’s but the authorities’ fault. The lengthy and arbitrary detention also contributed to the deterioration of M. N.’s physical and mental health condition. 

The case of A.A. from Algeria started even earlier. He was detained between 6 June and 1 August 2014. As soon as he lodged his asylum application, he was immediately detained,  despite the fact that the authorities had documents to prove his identity and that a friendly Hungarian family would have provided him with accommodation and livelihood. Still, the asylum authority and court invoked the absence of proof of identity and the risk of absconding when ordering and maintaining his detention. 

Today’s judgments were preceded by many similar judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights where the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s asylum-seeking clients won their case for having been arbitrarily detained for months. Most recently, in February this year, the Strasbourg Court ruled that the detention of a young Iraqi dentist for three months was unlawful.

“We hope that today’s judgments – along with various previous ones in the European Court of Human Rights – will lead to positive changes in the jurisprudence of domestic authorities and courts. We have been fighting for many years to ensure that the minimum standards of fundamental rights set out in the judgments are respected and used as a benchmark in Hungary. In addition, special respect is due to both our clients who have been waiting for today’s judgments for nearly 9 and 7 years respectively”, said Barbara Pohárnok, staff attorney of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, who represented the applicants in the Strasbourg proceedings.