Family of six unlawfully detained in transit zone

Originally from Afghanistan, MDA and his wife, SA, fled to Iran, where they had four children, before they had to flee again. On the 9th of January 2019, the Hungarian authorities allowed them to enter the Röszke transit zone and seek asylum with their children, who were 17, 13, 6 and 4 years old at the time.

The family was held there for four months, despite the fact that long periods of detention in the prison-like transit zones is unsuitable and harmful for these already vulnerable children.

First in an accelerated legal procedure, the Hungarian authorities rejected their asylum application and ordered them to leave the country on the grounds that they entered Hungary via Serbia, a country considered to be a safe place for asylum seekers by Hungary. The family appealed against the decision with the help of the HHC. 

Even though the appeal resulted in the Hungarian court ruling that any detention in the transit zones over one month is unlawful, they were held at the Röszke transit zone for 4 months.During this period, the Hungarian authorities tried to force them to return to Serbia “voluntarily”, for example by withholding food from the parents. They only stopped depriving them of food when an urgent interim measure was issued by the ECtHR in response to HHC’s request.

On the 9th of May 2019, a heart-wrenching scene took place at the Röszke transit zone. In spite of desperate pleas from women and children, Hungarian police armed with rubber batons tried to force MDA’s family and two other families seeking asylum to board a bus that would have taken them to a flight bound for Afghanistan. Initially, it seemed that the extradition might be postponed when a pregnant asylum seeker lost consciousness during this scene. However, seeing that it would not be possible to get them on the flight, the Hungarian authorities decided to force MDA and another Afghan family on a bus heading for Serbia.

While the Hungarian state unsuccessfully attempted to argue that transit zones are not places of detention, the current ruling of the ECtHR makes it clear that the Hungarian authorities have violated the human rights of MDA and his family by unlawfully detaining them in the Röszke transit zone. Their detention had no valid legal grounds, was arbitrary and thus unlawful, with no legal remedy provided. Detention of the children and depriving their parents of food was unlawful and constituted inhumane, degrading treatment. 

According to the ECtHR ruling, the family is to receive 10,000 euros in compensation from the Hungarian state.This ruling marks the HHC’s 21st case where the ECtHR ruled against the Hungarian state for unlawfully detaining asylum seekers in transit zones. The scale and severity of the human rights violations committed by the Hungarian state are further evidenced by the 24 urgent interim measures that had to be issued by the ECtHR, ordering the Hungarian state to stop the practice of depriving asylum seekers of food.