The ECtHR ruled on Tuesday that Hungary had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by detaining the two asylum-seekers in the Röszke transit zone near Hungary’s southern border.

The court also said that authorities had later sent them back to Serbia, which the ECtHR said had put them under the risk of facing inhumane treatment in the Greek refugee reception centres. The court ordered the Hungarian state to pay the petitioners 18,705 euros each in compensation and legal fees.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, György Bakondi said Hungarian authorities had assessed the asylum-seekers’ requests in line with the law. He said they had been sent back to Serbia because the authorities had determined that it was a safe third country.

He said the two Bangladeshi petitioners had been represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, which he said “consistently acts as an organisation in support of migrants” and continually “participates in the attacks against Hungary’s migration policy”.

Hungary will not change its migration policy, as it is convinced that it acts in line with the law, Bakondi said. Hungary’s border protection system serves not just the security of Hungarian citizens but that of every European citizen, he added. Bakondi said that a total of 7,204 people had attempted to cross Hungary’s southern border illegally so far this year.

Authorities apprehended 4,472 of them and turned back 2,740, he said. He said 1,134 asylum applications have been submitted to Hungarian authorities so far this year. A total of 54 applicants have been granted international protection, 13 refugee status, 36 have been given subsidiary protection and 5 have been granted ‘tolerated stay’ status.

Hungarian authorities have launched legal proceedings against 35 people on suspicion of human smuggling so far this year, Bakondi added.

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