European Court of Human Rights

 

 

FIFTH SECTION

CASE OF M.H. v. HUNGARY

(Application no. 652/18)

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

3 October 2024

 

 

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of M.H. v. Hungary,

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:

          Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, President,
          Lado Chanturia,
          Kateřina Šimáčková, judges,
and Sophie Piquet, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to:

the application (no. 652/18) against Hungary lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ("the Convention") on 29 December 2017 by an Afghan national, M.H. ("the applicant"), who was born in 1999, lives in Germany and was represented by Mr Sz.M. Sánta, a lawyer practising in Budapest;

the decision to give notice of the application to the Hungarian Government ("the Government"), represented by their Agent, Mr Z. Tallódi, of the Ministry of Justice;

the decision not to have the applicant's name disclosed;

the parties' observations;

Having deliberated in private on 12 September 2024,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

1.  On 6 April 2017 the applicant, an unaccompanied minor fleeing Pakistan, entered the Hungarian transit zone in Röszke from Serbia. He immediately applied for asylum.

2.  The asylum authority initially ordered him to be accommodated in the Röszke transit zone. A few days later he was transferred to the Tompa transit zone, where he stayed for about a month. On 12 May 2017 he was taken back to the Röszke transit zone.

3.  As at the time of his arrival he declared himself seventeen years old and he was unaccompanied, the asylum authority appointed an ad hoc guardian (eseti gyám) for him to ensure his legal representation during the asylum procedure.

4.  In both transit zones, he was placed in special sections reserved for unaccompanied boys. He shared a container with four other boys.

5.  On 28 June 2017 the applicant was granted subsidiary protection and from 30 June 2017 onwards he was accommodated in the children's home in Fót.

6.  Relying on Article 3 of the Convention, taken alone and in conjunction with Article 13, the applicant complained about the allegedly inhuman or degrading conditions in which he had been held in the transit zone and the lack of an effective remedy in this respect. He also complained about his confinement to the transit zones under Article 5 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.

I.        THE APPLICANT'S VERSION OF THE LIVING CONDITIONS IN THE TRANSIT ZONES

7.  With regards to the conditions in the transit zones, the applicant complained about the heat during summer months, unhygienic conditions, the presence of police officers and the hostile attitude of the staff of the transit zones towards the asylum seekers. He also complained that the food he had received was unfamiliar to him, that he had not been provided with sufficient amount of hygiene products and that no psychological care had been available at the material time. He further submitted that he could only attend two organised activities in the Tompa transit zone: painting and Hungarian classes. According to him, no activities had been provided in the Röszke transit zone. Concerning his guardian, the applicant asserted that the guardian was present at certain procedural acts related to the examination of his asylum claim: his first asylum interview on 25 April 2017 and once again afterwards. He stated that they never communicated with each other.

II.     THE GOVERNMENT'S VERSION OF THE LIVING CONDITIONS IN THE TRANSIT ZONES

8.  The Government submitted that the social workers in the transit zones had been particularly attentive to vulnerable individuals, including unaccompanied minors, therefore psychological support would had been provided to the applicant had he had indicated any need for it. Furthermore, as the applicant had arrived without an accompanying adult, an ad hoc guardian had been immediately appointed for him. The Government also asserted that adequate food had been provided for the applicant, having regard to his health status, age, and the dietary rules of his religion, and that a hygiene pack had been supplied to him by the tenth day of each month throughout his stay in the transit zones.

III.   REPORTS CONCERNING THE LIVING CONDITIONS IN THE TRANSIT ZONES

9.  The main findings of the visit of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) in the two Hungarian transit zones between 20 and 26 October 2017 have been summarised in the judgment of R.R. and Others v. Hungary (no. 36037/17, § 30, 2 March 2021). In addition to these, the CPT further observed that the school classes had targeted kindergarten-age and young school-age children and that hardly any educational activities had been offered to older juveniles. Furthermore, it also emphasised that "as a matter of principle, unaccompanied minors should not be held in a closed immigration detention facility, but they should always be provided with special care and accommodated in an open (or semi-open) establishment specialised for juveniles (e.g. a social welfare/educational institution for juveniles)" (CPT/Inf (2018) 42).

THE COURT'S ASSESSMENT

I.        ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION

10.  The Court notes that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention or inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.

11.  According to the Court's well-established case-law, ill-treatment must attain a minimum level of severity if it is to fall within the scope of Article 3. The assessment of that level is relative and depends on all the circumstances of the case, principally the duration of the treatment, its physical or mental effects and, in some cases, the sex, age and state of health of the victim (Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, § 97, 20 October 2016).

12.  The general principles concerning the confinement and living conditions of asylum-seekers have been summarised in Khlaifia and Others v. Italy ([GC], no. 16483/12, §§ 158-69, 15 December 2016) and with respect to the immigration detention of minors in M.H. and Others v. Croatia (nos. 15670/18 and 43115/18, §§ 184-186, 18 November 2021).

13.  In R.R. and Others v. Hungary (no. 36037/17, 2 March 2021) the Court has already examined the physical conditions in the Röszke transit zone, the suitability of the facilities for children and the provision of medical services at the material time. It concluded that such conditions may not attain the threshold of severity required to engage Article 3, where the confinement is of a short duration, however, in the case of a longer period, their repetition and accumulation would necessarily have harmful consequences for those exposed to them (ibid., §§ 60-64). The Court has repeatedly held in this connection that the passage of time is of primary significance for the application of Article 3 of the Convention (see ibid., § 64 and M.H. and Others, cited above, § 199).

14.  The applicant's stay in the two transit zones lasted for two months and twenty-five days. He was seventeen years old at the time. As he was unaccompanied, he was placed in a separate section created for unaccompanied boys between the age of 14 and 18 years and was appointed an ad hoc guardian, to provide him legal representation during the asylum procedure. The Court notes that the Government did not rebut the applicant's assertion that during this time he had only met his guardian twice, who had failed to provide him proper assistance. Nor did the Government provide any details about what additional support had been provided to the applicant, as an unaccompanied minor, by qualified personnel. Concerning the availability of psychological support, the Court notes that at the material time the asylum authority had not yet employed psychologists in the transit zones (R.R. and Others, cited above, §§ 30 and 63). As regards education, the Court finds it important to emphasise that access to education is crucial for every child's development, especially in a situation of vulnerability, as in the applicant's case. The Court refers to the observations made by the CPT (see paragraph 9 above) and Ambassador Tomáš Boček, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on migration and refugees (see R.R. and Others, cited above, § 31), according to which there had been no educational programmes adapted to the particular needs and age of juveniles staying in the transit zones. It notes with concern that the Government failed to rebut these allegations with details provided on the nature and frequency of classes held for adolescents of the applicant's age.

15.  The Court also takes into account the statements made by various international bodies calling for the provision of accommodation and care adapted for the needs of asylum-seeker minors as opposed to their detention which is to be eradicated (see paragraph 9 above and M.H. and Others, cited above, § 200). It furthermore refers to its previous findings on the presence of elements resembling a prison environment in the sections of the Röszke transit zone and the constraints inherent during confinement (R.R. and Others, cited above, § 63).

16.  As the Court has already concluded in M.H. and Others, the combination of the above elements of confinement, in case of a protracted period, would necessarily have harmful consequences for children, exceeding the threshold of severity required to engage Article 3 of the Convention (M.H. and Others, cited above, § 199).

17.  Therefore, as the applicant was made to stay for almost three months in an institution with prison-type elements, without sufficient adult supervision or support and without appropriate educational and recreational activities being provided to him, the Court finds that the situation complained of subjected the applicant to treatment which exceeded the threshold of severity required to engage Article 3 of the Convention (compare ibid., § 201, compare and contrast Ilias and Ahmed v. Hungary [GC], no. 47287/15, § 194, 21 November 2019).

18.  There has accordingly been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.

II.     ALLEGED VIOLATION of Article 5 §§ 1 AND 4 OF THE CONVENTION

19.  The Government submitted that the applicant had not been deprived of his liberty in the transit zone. The Court notes that the applicant's complaint that he had been confined to the transit zone in violation of Article 5 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention is similar to the one examined in the case R.R. and Others. In that case the Court found that the applicants' stay of almost four months in the transit zone amounted to a de facto deprivation of liberty (cited above, §§ 74-83). The Court, having regard to all the relevant circumstances, does not consider that the present case warrants a different conclusion than it had reached in R.R. and Others. Article 5 is therefore applicable (see also H.M. and Others v. Hungary, no. 38967/17, § 30, 2 June 2022 and compare O.Q. v. Hungary [Committee], no. 53528/19, § 15, 5 October 2023). This part of the application, which is not manifestly ill‑founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor inadmissible on any other grounds, must therefore be declared admissible.

20.  Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that the above complaints disclose a violation of Article 5 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention in the light of its findings in R.R. and Others (cited above, §§ 87‑92 and 97-99).

III.   OTHER COMPLAINTS

21.  The applicant also complained under Article 13 read in conjunction with Article 3 of the Convention about the lack of an effective remedy with respect to the conditions of his detention. Having regard to the facts of the case, the submissions of the parties, and its findings above, the Court considers that it has dealt with the main legal questions raised by the case and that there is no need to examine the remaining complaints (see Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania [GC], no. 47848/08, § 156, ECHR 2014).

APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

22.  The applicant claimed 8,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 1000 in respect of costs and expenses incurred before the Court.

23.  The Government contested these claims as being excessive.

24.  Having regard to the circumstances of the present case, and ruling on an equitable basis, the Court awards the applicant EUR 3,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage, plus any tax that may be chargeable.

25.  Having regard to the documents in its possession, the Court considers it reasonable to award the applicant the full sum he claimed in respect of costs, that is EUR 1,000 for the proceedings before the Court, plus any tax that may be chargeable to him.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

1.      Declares the complaints concerning Article 3 and Article 5 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention admissible;

2.      Holds that there has been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention;

3.      Holds that there has been a violation of Article 5 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention;

4.      Holds that there is no need to examine the admissibility and merits of the remaining complaint;

5.      Holds

(a)  that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement:

(i) EUR 3,000 (three thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage;

(ii) EUR 1,000 (one thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses;

(b)  that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points;

6.      Dismisses the remainder of the applicant's claim for just satisfaction.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 3 October 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

                       

             Sophie Piquet                                          Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström
    Acting Deputy Registrar                                                President