UNHCR opens regional centre in Budapest
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UNHCR, is to set up a regional center in Hungary, to deal with refugee issues in Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Poland. These are all now countries on the European Union's eastern borders. We spoke to the head of the UNHCR office in Budapest, Lloyd Dakin, and began by asking why Hungary was chosen for the regional center:
What are currently the hottest refugee issues in these countries?
"The hottest refugee issues are the same everywhere. They have to do with the ability of refugees to have access to the territory of the countries to which they are seeking asylum, to be able to benefit from effective, and expeditious decision-making process, and to have their needs met, while in the process of waiting for those decisions to be made. So, the question of adequate reception facilities, legal aid, national systems being capable of meeting the needs of the numbers of refugees that are coming."
And are they?
"It varies from country to country and these things also vary over time. For example in Hungary, there has been a reduction of the number of asylum seekers, so the asylum seekers are not over-taxing the system; procedures are not having difficulty managing. But in Slovakia, on the other hand, the numbers are quite high and it's leading to a number of problems for the authorities there to cope with large numbers of asylum seekers. In addition, the factor of having joined the EU, the new member states like Hungary have to participate in the process of the harmonisation of the asylum regimes, which is going on throughout the EU and this is an additional burden with which the UNHCR can be helpful in providing expert advice and guidance and support for the governments."
