Today, the Council of Europe Lanzarote Committee published its recommendations to the Hungarian authorities on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse in the transit zones at the Serbian-Hungarian border.
According to the legislation adopted in Hungary in March 2017, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children aged between 14 and 18 years old are sent to transit zones instead of child protection institutions. The Lanzarote Committee voiced its concern about this situation and undertook in July 2017 upon invitation of the Hungarian government a visit to the two transit zones at the southern border of Hungary (near Röszke and Tompa) where such children are accommodated until a decision on their asylum request is taken. The on-the-spot visit of a delegation of the Lanzarote Committee was a first in its kind and it proved very useful to gather a more comprehensive picture of the situation.
First steps have already been taken by the Hungarian authorities, which the Lanzarote Committee acknowledged during its meeting this week.
The information provided in this context is published together with the recommendations on the Lanzarote Committee’s dedicated webpage.
