The Impacts of Closing Borders: Asylum Policy in Hungary

Border fences have been presented by the Hungarian government in 2015 as a solution to decrease the rising numbers of arriving migrants into the EU member states. However, it is a matter of fact that by closing its borders, Hungary has simply redirected the routes of asylum seekers arriving in the EU to and via Croatia and Slovenia. Since then, the situation of refugees at the Hungarian-Serbian border has worsened. From 2016 on, the Hungarian official entry points have been shut. Additionally, the government has tightened its asylum policies several times.

What are the impacts of the closing of the borders on the situation of asylum seekers in and outside of Hungary? Is it acceptable that a country turns away from its international obligations by building border fences? How have these measures affected the discourse in Hungary?

Mark Zoltán Kékési from a Hungarian human rights organization MigSzol in Szeged, Dalimil Petrilák from a Czech NGO Pomáháme lidem na útěku and Beáta Szakácsová from the Office of the Public Defender of Rights will discuss the current migrant admission system and its concrete humanitarian, legal, and political implications.

Participants:

• Mark Zoltán Kekési, MigSzol, Szeged (HU)
• Dalimil Petrilák, Pomáháme lidem na útěku, Prague (CZ)
• Beáta Szakácsová, Office of the Public Defender of Rights, Brno (CZ)

Chair: Zora Hesová, AMO (CZ)

Please register here.

The event is organized in the frmaework of the project Debunking myths about migration and integration of Muslims in Europe and is kindly supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Prague. Europe Direct Brno is partner of the event.

WORKING LANGUAGE: English