Belgrade, Serbia: When Russia began its war, Hungary opened its borders to thousands of refugees fleeing Ukraine. Other refugees have received no help in a region of Serbia.
After studying for three years in Hungary, Haseeb Qarizada sought asylum there last August following the chaos in his native Afghanistan. But instead of seeking asylum, Hungarian authorities deported Karizada across the border into neighboring Serbia six months earlier, deporting him to a country he did not even know.
Haseeb Qarizada, an Afghan student, rests outside his room at the “Kranjka” refugee center near Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, February 24, 2022. (AP)
“The police came and handcuffed me,” Krezada told the Associated Press in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. “They told me ‘Don’t try to run away, don’t try to fight with us, don’t do anything stupid.'”
Miles away on a farm in Serbia without seeing anyone, 25-year-old Krezada didn’t know where he was, where to go or what to do.
“I was a student, and they changed my life,” he said. “They didn’t give me a chance to grab my clothes, my (phone) charger or my laptop or anything important that I would need to travel.”
He told the AP that he “had absolutely no idea where Serbia is, what language they speak, what kind of culture they have.”
Hungarian police did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment on Karizada’s ouster in September.
While Hungary is notorious for how it treats migrants fleeing war and poverty, Kreizda’s case points to a particularly appalling practice of sending people to a third country from which they did not come.
Rights activists in the region reported the first such case in 2017, when a 16-year-old Kurd from Iraq was deported from Hungary to Serbia, though he initially entered Hungary from Romania and was deported. The first managed to reach Austria.
Most recently, a Cameroonian woman who entered Hungary from Romania was deported to Serbia last December. Another African woman who took a flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates a year ago also arrived at a farm in Serbia.
“This is something that is unfortunately common, routine and something that cannot be considered unusual,” said Serbian rights lawyer Nikola Kovevi.
Qarizda’s expulsion reflects a clear difference in the treatment of the people of Ukraine and those from non-European war zones with right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Similarly, Croatia – another EU country accused of violence against migrants – has said Ukrainians can come and stay.
Activists applauded the change, warning of discrimination against refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa, who have for years faced threats and persecution at the borders of Hungary, Croatia and other European countries.
“For those following these issues, it is hard to remember the contrast of the past few weeks with Europe’s harsh response to those fleeing other wars and crises,” said Judith Sunderland of Human Rights Watch. “A staggering number of people from Asia, Africa and the Middle East die each year trying to reach Europe.”
Zalt Skreis of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee said that “the (Hungarian) government is now doing its best to explain why Ukrainians are good asylum seekers and others are bad migrants.”
With Hungary’s April 3 election, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs dismissed “fake news” media reports that officials were discriminating even among refugees arriving from Ukraine.
Border pushback, which is illegal under international law, means people are sent from one country to another without consideration of their individual circumstances.
When, like Karizada, he was expelled in a country he did not come from, “the seriousness of the violation is high,” said Serbian lawyer Kovevi.
Karizda’s deportation was even more harsh as he did not come to Hungary by any illegal migration route. A self-financed student who shared an apartment and led an established life in Budapest, Karizda sought asylum because the turmoil in Afghanistan meant that her family could no longer pay her university fees and so she lost her life. was unable to pay the university fees. Residence permit could not be renewed.
In rejecting his asylum application, activists say, Hungarian officials disregarded the fact that Qarizada’s homeland in Afghanistan could not be considered safe after the Taliban returned to power.
Karizada told the AP that his family had ties to Afghanistan’s former Taliban government and were at risk of retaliation. “They hardly go out,” he said.
Skeres said lawyers for the Helsinki committee have taken Karizada’s case to both the Hungarian courts and the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that her unlawful removal goes against the European Human Rights Convention.
A Hungarian court has ruled in Karizada’s favor, he said, but lawyers are now fighting another legal battle to force the Hungarian authorities to enforce the verdict and allow him to return.
“He applied for asylum, he was living here, and he needed protection, and he was kicked out for some time,” Sax insisted. “He was never given the possibility or option to explain his position.”
For Qarizada, the days after the expulsion were the worst days of her life.
Abandoned in Serbia, he walked for hours, eventually reaching a gas station where a woman let him charge his phone and directed him to the nearest asylum centre. The facility was full so he slept outside for four nights.
“I felt bad… because I was a normal student. I was studying, I was going to classes. I had my own friends. I had my own life,” he said. “I was not doing anything bad “
Karox Pishtvan, a Kurdish minor who was deported to Serbia in 2017 and granted asylum there, also told the AP that Hungarian police “just opened the gate and told us to leave.”
“It was July and everything was green,” he recalled. “I was quite surprised. We hadn’t slept for three days and they kicked us out. I didn’t know where I was and what was happening.”
Sékeres said the acceptance of refugees from Ukraine shows that despite the government’s years-long anti-immigration agenda, solidarity among common Hungarians with those in need remains strong.
“Ukrainian parents are running with their children and Afghan parents are running with their children,” he said. “This is a good reminder to all that asylum seekers, regardless of where they come from, need protection.”