Hungary "Child protection concerns should override the implementation of immigration measures"

Project : MARIO 26 Oct 2010 | abandonement mother-child detention fum guardianship

Budapest, Hungary, October 25th 2010: The second edition of Mario Hungarian national workshop, entitled “Foreign unaccompanied minors in the light of European practice”, took place gathering more than 40 representatives of Hungarian institutions, non-governmental organizations and international organizations to share experiences and good practices on the issue of Foreign unaccompanied minors.

The main aim of the conference was to gather all concerned actors to find a common approach on how to improve the protection of foreign unaccompanied minors, as well as to take stock of good practices found in other European states and promote their replication in Hungary.

The workshop had four, sessions followed by active debates by the participants:

• “The Guardianship and rights of foreign unaccompanied minors: European responses” by Julia Ivan, Legal Officer at the Hungarian Helsinki Committee,
• “Age assessment: European practices” by Robert Gagyi project manager of migration and refugee programs at the Hungarian Interchurch Aid,
• “Stateless Children Born in Hungary” by Dr Katalin Haraszti, Head of Department at the Hungarian Ombudsman Office,
• “Best interests determination: Frameworks and practices in Europe” by Pierre Cazenave, Mario project coordinator.

Debates were engaged after each session and the representative of the Office of Immigration and Nationality -the competent institution in many of the areas addressed by the workshop – could share the opinion of the government in those fields, as well as shed light on the recent and future developments of the Hungarian practice.

Miklos Radoszav, head of the Central Child protection Services in Hungary highlighted the gaps and shortcomings in the Hungarian practice, notably the absence of a clear policy framework on the issue of foreign unaccompanied minors. A positive development mentioned was that ‘reintegration plans’ are now being drawn up for each case of return of a minor.

Mr. Radoszav also raised the fact that “child protection concerns should override the implementation of immigration measures”, as often the immigration legislative framework is in conflict with the Child Protection Act.

In her keynote speech, the Head of the Hungarian Unit of UNHCR, Ms. Agnes Ambrus presented the viewpoints of UNHCR and moderated the debate on detention and guardianship.

The insights and opinions of participants were as wide as the variety of the audience, which allowed informed multidisciplinary exchanges and brought positive results to the discussions.

The recent bill that is discussed at the Hungarian parliament, and that will allow detention of minors for a period not exceeding 30 days was raised by participants.

In that regard, three Hungarian non governmental organizations, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Menedek Association and the Hungarian Red Cross will issue a common statement to Parliament calling on them to withdraw the possibility of detaining minors from the current bill on migration, since it is contrary to international instruments such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that foresees detention as a measure of last resort only. [PC]

For more information on Mario project, click here.