Each year hundreds of thousands leave their home due to wars, hunger, torture and persecution globally. In Europe, although often perceived as a safe region, asylum-seekers are often met by refusal, detention and expulsion.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee works towards providing effective assistance to those fleeing to Hungary.
A client of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee has won a case against the Hungarian state in the Strasbourg Court. The young Iranian woman, who was separated from her family, was essentially held in solitary confinement in the Tompa transit zone. She has now been awarded €3500 in just reparation by the European Court of Human Rights.
The clients of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee have won a case against the state before the European Court of Human Rights. The asylum-seeking mother and her 5-year-old and 5-month-old children were denied food in the transit zone for 37 days. Their lives and health were saved by the support of their fellow migrants and charities.
A client of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee has won a case against the Hungarian state before the European Court of Human Rights. A young Iraqi man separated from his family was denied food in a transit zone for eight days. After 10 months, he was released from the container-prison only because the government – following a court ruling – dismantled them.
The HHC organised an event for refugee and Hungarian youth, who are engaged and interested in human rights activities. This 1-day event created a space for self-expression through art therapy with a refugee and a Hungarian artist, learning through human rights quizzes and bonding through games.
Today the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Hungary is to pay a lump sum of 200 million euros for failure to implement an earlier judgement of the Court. The Government is also to pay a penalty payment of 1 million euros per day for each day it fails to put an end to the often violent pushback of migrants.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) is assessing the idea of establishing a specific online advice forum for European legal practitioners focusing on the application of fundamental rights in migration-related cases.
A gap-filling comparative and comprehensive research study on how the issue of applicants’ right to know and to access classified information is regulated in immigration-related proceedings in the Member States of the European Union, and whether national frameworks are in line with European standards.
A young Syrian woman fled both from the war and from forced marriage. She desperately needed help on several levels, yet she was locked up in Hungary. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in … Read more
In December 2023, the European Court of Human Rights rejected two requests for interim measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court in the case of a Russian dissident, who is to be returned … Read more
The Hungarian government has extended the temporary protection of people from Ukraine living in Hungary for another year.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Hungary arbitrarily detained two children who applied for asylum in 2016. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee represented the asylum-seeking children against the Hungarian state that violated their rights.
Another client of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee has won a case in Strasbourg. Hungarian police pushed an Iraqi Kurdish boy to Serbia without any investigation. The inhumane Hungarian regulations made this possible – which are in effect even today, despite several international and EU court rulings declaring them to be a severe violation of fundamental rights. The Hungarian state treats children in need of asylum this way.
The project seeks to provide high-quality, free-of-charge legal assistance and representation to asylum-seekers and other persons of concern to UNHCR in Hungary, as well as to ensure through information provision and situation monitoring, evidence-based advocacy … Read more
Transit zones have been shut down for 3.5 years in Hungary, but this cruel detention regime has not disappeared without a trace and is still haunting the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Yesterday, the number of its judgments in which asylum seeker applicants won against Hungary, all successfully represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, rose to ten.
In a shocking report, The Guardian revealed that Hungarian authorities pushed out even severely injured asylum seekers to Serbia. We have been drawing attention to this issue for a long time and continue to provide legal assistance to … Read more
In an ever-evolving legal landscape, staying ahead of the curve is essential. The STARLIGHT programme, a joint initiative by the Hertie School and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), has paved the way for 60 legal practitioners in the European Union to harness the full potential of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) through strategic litigation.
The YES project (Youth Engagement and Sensitisation for Refugee Integration and an Inclusive Hungarian Society), on the one hand, will help young refugees and immigrants living in Hungary to become active participants in their communities … Read more
HHC attended the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference and submitted statements on shrinking civic space, violations of the rights of migrants and asylum-seekers, freedom of assembly, and the rule of law.
Hungarian authorities forcibly transferred a Yemeni family of seven and an Afghan three-member family to Serbia in 2019. They all applied for asylum at Budapest Airport but were pushed out via the border fence. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg ruled today that the Hungarian state violated the prohibition of collective expulsions and inhuman or degrading treatment. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee represented the asylum seekers, including a child with Down’s syndrome, in the case.