The European Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Hungary on Thursday 10 October concerning its food deprivation practices for migrants detained in transit areas between Hungary and Serbia, whose asylum applications have been rejected and who are awaiting return to their countries of origin.
“In the Commission's view”, the institution explains in a statement, “compelling persons subject to return to remain in these Hungarian transit zones is in fact equivalent to detention within the meaning of the Returns Directive”. It therefore considers that the refusal of food in these circumstances violates the obligations arising from Article 16 of the Return Directive and Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Hungary on 26 July 2019. However, as the response from Budapest was considered insufficient, the Commission gave the government of Viktor Orbán 1 month's notice on 10 October to reply. The Commission had already referred the matter to the Court in 2018 concerning the practice of detaining migrants in so-called transit areas. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)