CoE: Commissioner Mijatovic was deeply concerned by the situations of third-country citizens

Dunja Mijatovic, the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, has praised Hungary’s “fair and effective” asylum procedure and open-border policy towards refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

In a letter addressed to Interior Minister Sándor Pintér, Mijatovic expressed “deep appreciation for the solidarity and generosity” the Hungarian authorities and the Hungarian people have shown towards refugees from Ukraine. The commissioner said she understood that the vast majority of those fleeing Ukraine had “merely transited” Hungary and that Hungary had only received around 23,000 registrations for temporary protection by June 1.

Mijatovic said this constituted “a rather low proportion of the almost 700,000 entries from Ukraine” that were reported by the Hungarian authorities in that same period, and raised the concern that those fleeing may be receiving insufficient information about the protection options available to them in Hungary.

She also said that several Roma rights organisations had voiced complaints in border towns and Budapest about discriminatory attitudes at refugee shelters and when receiving assistance.

“I would like to reiterate that the provision of assistance and effective access to rights must be ensured to everyone in a nondiscriminatory manner and encourage you to strengthen your efforts to guarantee that the specific vulnerabilities and difficulties of Roma are adequately taken into account,” Mijatovic wrote.

The commissioner called on the Hungarian authorities to acknowledge, value and support the activities of civil groups in order to ensure that essential legal advice and information is provided to all those in need.