ECtHR rules against Hungary for wrongly detaining, deporting asylum-seekers

Brussels/Strasbourg, March 14 (MTI) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled against Hungary regarding the detention and deportation of two Bangladeshi asylum-seekers.

In its non-binding ruling issued on Tuesday, the ECtHR said Hungary had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by detaining the two asylum-seekers in the Röszke transit zone near Hungary’s southern border in the autumn of 2015.

The court also said that authorities had later sent them back to Serbia, which the ECtHR said had put them under the risk of facing inhumane treatment in the Greek refugee reception centres.

The ECtHR said the actions of Hungarian authorities were in breach of the right to liberty and security, the prohibition of torture and the right to an effective remedy prescribed by the European Convention on Human Rights.

The court ordered Hungary to pay the petitioners 18,705 euros each in compensation and legal fees.

In reaction to the ruling, the governing Fidesz party called it a nonsense that Hungary was being punished for defending its own borders and those of Europe. The migration crisis can only be handled by a powerful defence of borders and by “not giving in” to pressure from Brussels and Strasbourg, the party said in a statement.

Peter Niedermüller, an MEP of the opposition Democratic Coalition, said the “ruling proves that the government’s refugee policy is not only inhumane but also breaks international law.” He suggested that the compensation and the fees concerned should be paid by government members and lawmakers of Fidesz and the opposition Jobbik party.

“It is not the taxpayers who should settle the bill if the government fails to observe international law,” he said.

Source: MTI