REPORT BY NILS MUIŽNIEKS
COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
FOLLOWING HIS VISIT TO HUNGARY FROM 1 TO 4 JULY 2014
In relation to discrimination on the grounds of socio-economic status, the Commissioner is worried at measures taken in the last three years to prohibit rough sleeping and construction of huts and shacks in Budapest and other cities, which have widely been described as criminalising homelessness in practice. Given the obsolete and overcrowded system of emergency shelters in Budapest and elsewhere, the Commissioner urges the Hungarian authorities to review the restrictive regulations in light of internationally agreed standards binding Hungary and guaranteeing human dignity. They should also investigate reported cases of forced evictions without alternative solutions and of children being taken away from their families on the grounds of poor socio-economic conditions, in violation of international human rights standards. There will be no solution to the problem of homelessness without Hungary adopting a national social housing strategy adapted to the needs of homeless persons.
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