[AlAhram] Hungary must provide food to asylum seekers held in detention camps on its border with Serbia whose applications have been rejected by Budapest but who are appealing the decision, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said on Thursday.
Human rights groups say that Hungarian authorities have refused food to some asylum seekers held in the two detention camps on the border, which are open towards Serbia, while they await the outcome of their court appeal.
Hungary's parliament in June passed laws that criminalise giving some kinds of help to illegal immigrants colonists. Hungary also said it would not accept asylum applications from migrants colonists arriving via a country where they are deemed safe from persecution or harm, or where an adequate level of protection is provided.
As all the asylum seekers have come via Serbia, which is classed by Hungary as a safe country, their applications can now be rejected. The European Commission says the changes do not comply with EU law and has launched a procedure against Hungary.
The Helsinki Committee, a rights group, said in an Aug. 17 statement it had asked the Strasbourg-based ECHR to intervene over what it described as "inhuman" treatment on the border. |