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Authorities in Ventimiglia, an Italian town in Liguria near the border with France, have announced the upcoming creation of a center of transit for migrants.
UNHCR has expressed concerns over a recent decision by the Hungarian government that "restricts access to asylum" in the country and has asked the government to ensure the rights of asylum seekers to enter the country and request protection.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Hungary violated the law in its treatment of a family of five asylum seekers, including three young children. The Iranian-Afghan family was held in a border transit zone for several months in 2017.
The European Commission has begun an infringement procedure against Hungary for its law on NGOs commonly known as 'Stop Soros', which bans foreign-funded organizations from providing assistance to migrants.
It follows a European Court of Justice ruling on the illegality of Budapest's treatment of asylum seekers. The EU border agency made the announcement on Wednesday.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights watchdog, has accused the EU border agency Frontex of "turning a blind eye towards well-documented systemic human rights violations at Hungary’s Schengen borders." Even after the European Court of Justice had ruled that the extra-judicial pushbacks taking place breached EU law.
The European Commission will take legal action against Hungary once more following the country’s most recent transgression against EU-wide asylum standards. Brussels announced on Friday that it will initiate infringement proceedings shortly over Hungary's "incorrect application of EU asylum legislation."
After the EU's top court ruled that Hungary had been illegally detaining asylum seekers, the government announced it was scrapping transit zones. Hundreds of asylum seekers will now be moved to reception centers.
The EU's highest court has ruled that Hungarian authorities circumvented EU law by holding Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers in prison-like conditions. It also said Budapest was obliged to reconsider their applications.
Hungary has announced that it is suspending the admission of migrants to its so-called 'transit zones', claiming there is a connection between coronavirus and illegal immigration. A chief security advisor to the Hungarian prime minister on March 1 said the country will "defend its borders" and "not a single illegal migrant" will be allowed to enter.
The protection rate for asylum seekers in Hungary has dropped to 12% in 2019. A Hungarian newspaper reports that only 60 asylum seekers were given protection in 2019, compared to around 360 in the previous year.