The European Commission has said is ‘looking into’ a new Hungarian law that cancels state-funded accommodation for refugees from parts of Ukraine that Budapest says are not directly affected by military action.
The European Commission said today it was examining whether a Hungarian law withdrawing state-funded shelter from Ukrainian refugees from regions not directly impacted by the war is in line with EU asylum rules, while Budapest said it was targeting only those who are able but unwilling to work.
Some 120 Ukrainian citizens, mainly women and children of Roma ethnicity, were evicted from a privately run shelter in the town of Kocs on Wednesday (21 August), the day a government decree took effect which limits eligibility for accommodation to people from regions – currently 13, in the east and south of Ukraine – not deemed to be active war zones.
“We are aware of this decree and we are looking into it,” Commission spokesperson on migration Anitta Hipper told reporters in Brussels today, adding: “The EU stands united in providing protection for all those fleeing Putin’s bombs… and we’ll ensure their protection as long as it takes.”
There are currently some 4.2 million Ukrainians in the EU who have been accorded ‘temporary protection’ status under EU law. Some 46,000 of these are in Hungary, of which up to 3,000 could be affected by the change in Hungarian law, according to human rights groups.
Governments in the EU Council activated the Temporary Protection Directive within a fortnight of the Russian invasion in February 2022, and recently extended its application to Ukrainian refugees, of which more are expected, to March 2026.
“This means immediate protection and access to rights in the EU…throughout all member states, including residency rights, but also access to the labour market, accommodation, social welfare, medical and other assistance,” Hipper said.
The Commission official would not comment on whether the EU executive is concerned Hungary might be contravening the directive. “This decree just entered into force, we need to be in touch with the Hungarian authorities, and this is where we are at this stage.”
Meanwhile, at a press conference in Budapest, Hungarian government minister Gergely Gulyás said the government decree was a response to some 4,000 people in state-funded shelters who refused to take jobs even when work was available.
“We have paid out 10 billion forints (€25m) in one year to provide accommodation to people who are capable of work,” said Gulyás. The measures put in place in Hungary were “entirely in line” with those in Poland, Romania and Czechia, he claimed.
The minister, who is chief of staff to Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán, went on to accuse “Soros organisations” – a reference to the billionaire US-Hungarian financier and philanthropist – of encouraging refugees to refuse to leave the premises in Kocs.
In the end they were readmitted to spend a night under an outdoor shelter, while the owner of the hostel in which they had been staying provided mattresses for the children, according to András Léderer, head of advocacy for the human rights group the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, who was at the scene.
The United Nations’ High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said it was monitoring the situation, and reiterated its warning that any transition from refugee shelters must be gradual and accompanied by long-term solutions to prevent homelessness and destitution.
A spokesperson for the UNHCR’s central Europe office in Hungary noted that EU law obliges member states to “ensure access to suitable accommodation for persons granted temporary protection”.
“Refugees living in subsidized accommodation are considered some of the most vulnerable, as many of them are persons with disabilities, older persons, pregnant women, children, and single-headed households,” the UNHCR told Euronews. “Even when employed, their current level of income does not allow them to move out of the collective shelters.”
“UNHCR is not aware of any other countries hosting Ukrainian refugees, where a distinction is made based on the area of origin/residence for the purpose of accessing subsidized accommodation, or any other services,” it added.
At the time of writing, the 120 women and children in Kocs were being picked up in three buses for transport to a week of temporary accommodation provided through the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, a Catholic organisation that receives state funding.
Léderer welcomed the fact that the public attention drawn by the events in Kocs had apparently spurred the authorities to mobilise at least temporary relief for the evicted refugees. “What happens after one week, your guess is as good as mine,” he added, while expressing the concern that similar situations could develop elsewhere in Hungary.
