Operations in Hungary
Working environment
UNHCR opened an office in Budapest, Hungary, in 1989 after the country became the first in Central Europe to accede to the 1951 Refugee Convention. Initially, the agency´s activities focused on assisting the government in creating a law to implement the 1951 Geneva Convention and building up institutional structures to implement the legislation. The agency also provided Hungary with support when Romanian and Yugoslav asylum-seekers began to arrive. UNHCR also assisted Hungary by conducting refugee status determination for these European asylum seekers.
Following the passage of the Asylum Law in 1998, Hungary took over the responsibility of determining the status of these refugees, and UNHCR’s activities shifted towards supporting the development of asylum and migration programmes, laws, and institutions. In 1997, UNHCR Hungary ceased its involvement in determining refugee status of non-European asylum-seekers. Hungarian authorities assumed this responsibility.
In 2012, 2156 people applied for asylum in Hungary, including 175 unaccompanied minors or children separated from families. 87 asylum-seekers received refugee status and 375 men, women and children were granted complementary protection. The majority of asylum-seekers came from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kosovo, Syria and Somalia.
Projects and activities
In Hungary, UNHCR participates in border monitoring as part of a tripartite agreement concluded in December 2006 with Hungarian border police and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. Both the agreement and the cooperation that has grown from it are regarded as good practice in Europe, and serves as an example for similar activities in the region, and beyond. The agency has strongly advocated against the policy and practice in Hungary of detaining innocent asylum-seekers upon their arrival.
To ensure fair and efficient asylum procedures, UNHCR has carried out the following projects: the Asylum Quality Assurance and Evaluation Mechanism, and a follow-up Further Developing Asylum Quality. These projects audited asylum procedures, monitored asylum interviews and decisions on status, and provided advice and training to decision-makers, including judges adjudicating asylum claims. The agency has plans to issue a quality assurance manual in cooperation with the Office of Immigration and Nationality. The handbook will help establish and sustain an internal review and quality assurance mechanism in the national asylum system.
UNHCR Hungary regularly monitors reception conditions for asylum-seekers, such as accommodations, through the annual field assessments as part of the Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) strategy. Because of the AGD process, carried out in partnership with NGOs and the Hungarian authorities, improvements have been made in the legislative and institutional framework of the country, and in the protection and assistance offered refugees and asylum-seekers.
UNHCR also holds regular dialogues with the Office of Immigration and Nationality, where specific issues relating to refugee protection and integration and statelessness are discussed.
In the area of integration, UNHCR has strongly advocated for economic, social, education and employment policies and laws that give refugees the best possible chance to integrate into Hungarian society.
In the field of stateless protection, UNHCR Hungary has recommended the elimination of a requirement that only people lawfully residing in the country can have access to the stateless determination procedure. The procedure has made Hungary a good practice country in this field. But laws and practices need to be amended to prevent statelessness, and comply with the requirements of the 1961 UN Convention on the reduction and prevention of statelessness.
The agency’s public information activities, disseminated over the media and Internet, are aimed at raising awareness about the plight of asylum-seekers, and educating the public on issues such as the reasons for light and the importance of helping refugees integrate into society. These campaigns also strive to counter xenophobia, which appears to be on the rise.