By Laura Armstrong | Project and fundraising manager
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) continued to provide legal assistance to people fleeing the war in Ukraine. In the summer of 2024, the Hungarian governmnet restricted access to subsidized housing for refugees from Ukraine, entrusting itself with deciding which parts of Ukraine would be directly affected by the war and to only provide accommodation for those who came from those regions. The law stipulates that the list of "war-torn areas" should be updated every month by the minister responsible for public administration. However, the list has remained unchanged since July last year.
The Zakarpattia region, bordering with Hungary and previously home to a significant Hungarian speaking minority, many of whom fled to Hungary, is not included in this list. The government arbitrarily took away the housing support from refugees coming from this region, promising them that if Zakarpattia came under direct attack, they would review the decision. In August 2025, Munkachevo (Munkács) was hit by a Russian drone attack. However, the list was not updated.
The HHC represents 94 refugees (73 children and their parents) from Ukraine in their court cases who were impacted by this legislative change and whose leniency requests for housing were rejected by the Government Commissioner in the summer of 2024 and therefore they were evicted from their shelters. As a result of our litigation efforts, 10 refugees from Ukraine received a position decision in their cases and are now eligible for state-funded housing. Unfortunately, 42 of our clients received formalised rejection decisions, which the HHC has now appealed.
"It has taken over a year to achieve what should have been provided to our clients: access to subsidized housing. At the same time, it shows the importance of not giving up and it gives us and our clients hope that the same can be achieved for the other families" - says Anikó Bakonyi, the Director of the Refugee Program.
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