First verdict for the violation of human rights of the refugees

In autumn 2015, the two asylum seekers were kept in the camp on the Serbian-Hungarian border for 23 days after which the police deported them to Serbia.

Nikola Kovacevic, representative of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights, told Insajder.net that this is just the first ruling, and he expects many more against Hungary. This country started building a wire wall on the border with Serbia in 2015 in order to stop the refugees from entering Hungary.

The Belgrade Center for Human Rights stated earlier that the decision of the European Court is significant, since the practice of sending asylum seekers back to the “safe third countries” may lead to violation of human rights and, consequently, to answering before the court.

The European Court for Human Rights pointed out that the Hungarian authorities did not consider whether there were individual risks of inhuman and degrading treatment in the event of returning the asylum seekers to Serbia. Moreover, they refused to take into account the reports submitted to them. The decision was made solely on the basis of Regulation of the Hungarian Government from 2015, by which Serbia is declared a safe third country.

Yesterday, the Court in Strasbourg announced that Hungary is ordered to pay a compensation of EUR 10,000 and the additional EUR 8,705 for legal costs.

In the Insajder Production’s episode “The Abandoned,” one of the asylum seekers in Serbia, Vael Alzainab, spoke about his experience with Hungarian authorities. He said that, against all legal procedures, Hungary denied him asylum and returned him to Serbia by an urgent procedure.

“After the urgent procedure that lasted for couple of days, armed soldiers told me that Hungarian government denied me asylum and that I have to go back to Serbia,” he said.

Alzainab also told to Insajder’s journalists that he was forced to cross the border and return to Serbia. He pointed out that the police did not provide him an interpreter, that he was not informed of what he was signing since the documents were in Hungarian language, and that he did not have the right to appeal.

Mina Milanovic