Report on border monitoring activities in 2012
Border monitoring activities have been carried out at three extra-Schengen border sections in Hungary since 2006 under a tripartite cooperation agreement between the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the UNHCR Regional Representation and the National Police Headquarters.
The text of the present report was discussed and jointly adopted by the three cooperating parties. According to the HHC’s experience the increasing number of intercepted foreigners at the Serbian-Hungarian border section was challenging for the police in 2012. The number of intercepted unaccompanied minors significantly incresed througout 2012, there were more then 800 separated children stopped by the police, most of whom were from Afghanistan.
One of the most important findings was that the HHC and the UNHCR strongly recommend that the authorities – respecting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – should carry out an individual and substantive examination in each case to determine the best interest of the child in expulsion procedures and consider the relevant aspects of child protection in their decisions. The alien policing, asylum and child-care authorities should co-operate with special services and NGOs. The UNHCR and the HHC further recommend that the parties concerned should build a professional dialogue and carefully observe and implement good practices from abroad focusing on the examination of the best interest of the child, age assessment and intercultural communication with foreign children.
The report is available here.