No shelter for Romani refugees in Orbánistan: Helsinki Committee calls for EU action
06 September 2024
In the wake of the decree by the Hungarian government which cut state aid for Romani refugees from Transcarpathia and cast many out onto the streets, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) has called on the European Commission to launch infringement procedures against Hungary.
The HHC stated that the decree – which stipulates that from August 21, only those refugees coming from "administrative units of Ukraine directly affected by military operations" are entitled to housing support – is in clear violation of EU law. At the beginning of each month the government will purportedly publish a list, based on unclear criteria, of oblasts it considers to be a “territory impacted by war.”
The European Commission was forewarned and chose not to take action
The HHC warned that the 3,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection affected by this decree “face destitution and homelessness, unless they move to other Member States or back to the war in Ukraine.”
The European Commission stated it was “aware of this decree and we are looking into it,” but could not comment beyond guff about “standing united in providing protection for all those fleeing Putin’s bombs” for as long as it takes; and needing ‘to get in touch’ with the Hungarian government. But there was plenty of time for the Commission to ready itself and get in touch, the regime’s intent was made clear way in advance of the 21 August evictions, the HHC alerted them of the implications weeks before the decree came into force; and a full year ago the HHC warned of what lay ahead for refugees, and submitted a complaint to the Commission concerning an earlier amendment limiting support.
On 24 July 2023, the government first amended the decree that regulates the services available to beneficiaries of temporary protection, significantly limiting access to state-funded mass shelter to one month upon receiving temporary protection. As the HHC maintained, this restriction is in clear violation of EU Law, as the Temporary Protection Directive requires that Member States ensure that beneficiaries of temporary protection have access to suitable accommodation. The HHC submitted a complaint to the Commission in December 2023 that was registered only in May 2024: “No further action has been taken since then by the Commission.”
András Léderer, of the HHC, on the scene in the village of Kocs, where 120 Romani women and children were evicted on the day of the decree from their collective shelter, called for effective and meaningful intervention from “the European Union and the European Commission, to whom we already indicated a month ago that this new regulation will enter into force and what the consequences will be. Even though we said that we would be standing here on August 21 and that many people would have nowhere to go, we still had to watch dozens or hundreds of people being sent away at several locations.”
U.S. Ambassador visits affected refugees and calls out Orbán’s ‘appeasement’
On 28 August, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman met a group of 55 newly-displaced Romani refugees in Esztergom, in the wake of what the embassy press statement described as “the Hungarian government’s elimination of support for some of the most vulnerable individuals and families displaced by Russia’s targeting of innocent civilians in Ukraine.” After hearing directly from the refugees about their plight, the Ambassador – who described Orbán as a harbinger of Russian appeasement – stated, “The vulnerable women and children whom I spoke with today deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. It is unconscionable that they do not know where they will be sleeping at the end of the week.”
HHC update since 20 August decree
Since 20 August 2024, the HHC has carried out monitoring visits to dozens of facilities where beneficiaries of temporary protection stayed under the state-funded housing scheme. An estimated 3000, mostly women and children, lost their eligibility for state-funded shelter and the authorities have yet to respond to the HHC’s freedom of information request regarding statistical data on the affected population, the number of leniency requests submitted, granted, and rejected.
The HHC’s relentless efforts to assist people fleeing Ukraine include pilot lawsuits at various domestic courts, arguing for the obligation to provide basic shelter to beneficiaries of temporary protection. In a number of individual cases, grassroots groups, UNHCR, the HHC, and a handful of small charity organisations managed to secure temporary housing for extremely vulnerable beneficiaries of temporary protection. The Budapest opposition-run municipality continues to support and accommodate refugees.
In addition to its call on the Hungarian government to immediately repeal this latest decree, the HHC called on members of the Hungarian Charity Council – the government’s steering group of selected large charities, including Caritas, the Reformed Church Aid, the Order of Malta and the Hungarian Red Cross – to provide immediate humanitarian relief to beneficiaries of temporary protection until their situation is resolved.
And finally, HHC calls on the European Commission to exercise it competences to launch infringement procedures against Hungary for the erroneous implementation of both the Council Implementing Decision and the Temporary Protection Directive; and to make available financial resources to actors, “including municipalities, the UNHCR, civil society organisations with a proven track record of providing housing to beneficiaries of temporary protection, that are able and willing to ensure that Ukrainians fleeing the war are provided with adequate shelter.”
