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Luxembourg (dpa) - The European Court of Justice has once again declared parts of the restrictive asylum system in Hungary to be illegal.
It is inadmissible for Hungary to deport migrants illegally located in the country without examining the individual case, found the highest EU court (case C-808/18).
Thus, the country violates obligations under the EU directive on returns.
The background to this is a lawsuit by the EU Commission against the asylum rules of the right-wing national government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
In the opinion of the authority responsible for compliance with EU law, there is no guarantee that return decisions are issued individually and that migrants receive information on legal remedies.
There is a risk that “migrants will be returned without the appropriate guarantees and in violation of the principle of non-refoulement”.
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The European Court of Justice has now largely approved the EU Commission.
The Hungarian authorities did not respect the procedures and guarantees provided.
Rather, the migrants are forced by police officers behind a fence on a strip of land without infrastructure, which is only a few meters away from the border with Serbia.
Since those affected had no choice but to leave the Hungarian territory, this would be equivalent to deportation.
Instead, according to EU law, there must be a return procedure in which certain guarantees are taken into account.
The EU Commission's complaint was also directed against the now closed transit camps and the asylum procedures on the border with Serbia that were valid until recently.
The ECJ already declared the transit camp to be illegal in another procedure in May.
As a result, Hungary closed the camps and introduced new rules.
In their verdict, the judges confirmed that the transit camps violated EU law.
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In the meantime, new rules stipulate that those seeking protection can no longer apply for asylum at the border with Serbia, but have to present themselves to Hungary's embassies in Belgrade or Kiev.
There you can submit a declaration of intent to submit an asylum application.
They may then be given a one-time permit to enter Hungary.
In October the EU Commission initiated new infringement proceedings against these rules because access to the asylum procedure was not guaranteed.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201217-99-727488 / 3