The organisation established that while people belonging to some vulnerable groups are transferred to open facilities, most asylum applications submitted by single men have been promptly rejected since May this year.

“People who cross into Hungary without permission, including women and children, have been viciously beaten and forced back across the border,” said Lydia Gall, HRW’s regional expert.

Transit zones have a restricted capacity, which means that “hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers, including women and children, are stuck in noman’s land in very poor conditions waiting to enter” those facilities. Migrants attempting to cross the border bypassing the transit zones are “forced back” to Serbia, “often violently, without any consideration of their protection needs”, the report said.

Migrants interviewed by HRW reported that the Hungarian authorities had treated them brutally including beating, using gas spray and setting dogs on them or “forcing them through small openings in the razor wire fence, causing further injuries”, according to the report.

Authors of the report urged the Hungarian state to investigate the incidents and identify perpetrators, whether they are police officers or soldiers, or members of paramilitary organisations.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.