Submitted by crinadmin on
[April 2012] - While hundreds of children cross legally or illegally the borders of Hungary every year and do not apply for asylum, no research has ever been published on a very specific and vulnerable population: non-asylum seeking foreign unaccompanied minors. On the other hand, the issue of foreign unaccompanied minors who are seeking asylum has been widely discussed in Hungary and elsewhere, pointing out the deficiencies of national systems supposed to protect them. This research paper aims at analysing the measures that the Hungarian child protection system implements for non-asylum seeking foreign unaccompanied minors as well as the challenges that the local child protection workers face on a daily basis. It therefore does not intend to identify all the good practices and shortcomings of the Hungarian child protection system in the management of the non-asylum seeking foreign unaccompanied minors’ cases but rather to pave the way for a constructive thinking over the different issues that would certainly need to be solved if the Hungarian system was to uphold the rights of the foreign unaccompanied minors in need of protection. This study only offers a snapshot of what the situation is in Hungary, not pretending to be exhaustive and accurate. This study was published within the framework of the Project Mario – Protection of Children on the Move, supported by the Oak Foundation. It is available in both Hungarian and English languages. Further Information: