Asylum-Seekers: Filippo Grandi and Advocacy Groups

asylum-seekers: Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said the situation for asylum-seekers in Hungary was already a concern before the measures, and has only gotten worse since the new law introducing mandatory detention for asylum-seekers came into effect, according to The Chronicle Herald. The move is bound to put a new spotlight on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, which has faced scorn from U.N. agencies and advocacy groups over its tough policies on migrants even if its populist message has resonated in the country and elsewhere in the West. UNHCR says that since a tough new law took effect on March 28, Hungary's government has detained 110 people including children in shipping containers surrounded by high razor fences at the border while their asylum cases are reviewed. A complex European Union rule known as the Dublin Regulation holds that any asylum-seekers should have their cases processed in the first country of the bloc that they enter, and should be returned there if necessary. UNHCR Spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly said the call for such suspensions within the EU is rare, and such an appeal was last made in 2012, also with regard to Hungary. Grandi urged EU countries to suspend transfer of asylum-seekers to Hungary, until the Hungarian authorities bring their practices and policies in line with European and international law, according to a statement from his office. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.