The European Commission sides with refugees and civil society

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee welcomes the decision of the European Commission to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for what the Hungarian government calls the ’Stop Soros’ act. The Commission also decided to launch a new infringement procedure for withholding food from those detained in the transit zones. These decisions provide a chance to asylum-seekers, many of whom are victims of torture, children, pregnant women, that their application will be dealt in a fair procedure.

Márta Pardavi, co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee welcomed the Commission’s decision by saying: “The starvation of those detained in the transit zones, the threats against civil society, and the cessation of fair asylum procedures are incompatible with the rule of law. These EU procedures show once again the weaknesses of the Hungarian rule of law, as the regulations in question should not have been adopted at all in the first place, and once they were adopted, should have been annulled by Hungary. Although we are disappointed that none of this had happened in Hungary, this important action by the Commission demonstrates its commitment to protect human rights and civil society. We at the HHC have been working hard for a year now to ensure that authorities conduct fair procedures and those in need of protection benefit from it.  Today’s decisions provide a chance to asylum-seekers, many of whom are torture victims, children, pregnant women, that their application will be dealt in a fair procedure.”

Our full statement is available here.