Council of Europe delegation found no cases of sexual harassment among young migrants in Hungary, says ministry

A Council of Europe delegation dubbed the Lanzarote Committee has inspected the living conditions of 14-18 year-old migrants in Hungary’s transit zones and found no cases of sexual harassment or exploitation, the human resources ministry said on Sunday.

The Lanzarote Committee oversees compliance with the Lanzarote Convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation which came in force in Hungary in December 2015. The delegation, which arrived on Wednesday, was invited by the Hungarian government to verify child protection measures put in place in the transit zones in the southern border towns of Röszke and Tompa, the ministry said in a statement.

The delegation headed by Claude Janizzi visited the ministry of human resources on Friday and met with deputy state secretary for international and European affairs Orsolya Pacsay-Tomassich, deputy state secretary for social policy Imre Nyitrai and representatives of the justice ministry, the interior ministry and the immigration office.

The head of the delegation said that during their visit “they learnt about no cases of” sexual harassment or sexual exploitation of unaccompanied minors in Hungary, the ministry’s statement showed. The bilateral consultations focused on current legal regulations and care services for unaccompanied minors. The committee is preparing a report about the visit which is expected to be presented at the next plenary session in October, the statement added.

Photo: kormany.hu

Source: MTI