International Ombudsman Institute head has talks in Hungary concerning Ukraine refugees
Chris Field, the head of the International Ombudsman Institute, has started a visit in Hungary aimed at reviewing ombudsman services to refugees from Ukraine, the Hungarian ombudsman’s office (AJBH) told MTI on Monday.
Field arrived in Hungary at the invitation of Ombudsman Ákos Kozma.
Earlier on Monday, Field visited the AJBH’s regional office in Debrecen, and the Hungary-Romania border nearby. He was informed about ways of helping refugees, relevant measures taken, as well as about the information centres the AJBH had established along the Ukrainian and Romanian borders to assist new arrivals.
According to the ombudsman’s statement, the practice of setting up information points at the border is a novelty, and several countries have indicated their interests in building a similar system of offices in the provinces, to allow local residents easier access to ombudsman services.
In the next few days, Field will visit the Hungary-Ukraine border, and meet the head of the Constitutional Court, as well as police, immigration authority officials and leaders of the penitentiary system.
As we wrote on May, it is official, the Hungarian Ombudsman has been demoted by his foreign colleagues. The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights fell from category “A” to category “B”. Details HERE.
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Kozma Ákos, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, and his office in May of this year was assessed by the World Federation of Human Rights Institutions to be failing to adequately address a range of human rights concerns, including violations against vulnerable ethnic minorities, LGBT+ people, refugees and migrants… Not great Hungary promo.