Homeless shelter too far away...
Photo: B. Szandelszky / UNHCR

Even a Homeless Shelter is Out of
Reach for Young Somali Refugee

Budapest, 21 December 2009 - "This has been the worst week of my life" said Abdurrahman*, clinching his frozen fingers around a cup of warm tea. The young man is one of a few dozen of Somali refugees who got protection status in Hungary on paper, but do not receive enough support to start new lives. With the winter setting in, UNHCR is alarmed over the fate of homeless Somali Refugees in Budapest

Abdurrahman has most probably had more than a fair share of bad weeks in his life, growing up in the conflict-torn Somali capital, Mogadishu and using the dangerous routes of human traffickers to reach Europe. Sitting in the safety of downtown Budapest he should have been happy. But he was desperate instead. "Ten days ago, I had everything. I was in Manchester with my uncle and his family. They took good care of me. I have been taking language classes and preparing to go to school. Now I have nothing."

The young Somali has been recognized as a refugee in Hungary in early of 2008. When he received his Hungarian ID card, he traveled to Manchester, where his uncle is living. Abdurrahman did not realize that refugee status in one EU Member State does not entitle him to move to another Member State but for 30-day tourist visits. Welcomed by his family, Abdurrahman stayed one and half years in the UK. Eventually, he was caught by the police and deported back to Budapest at the beginning of December.

Omar will leave again and again
Omar* is 21 years old. He arrived in Hungary after an adventurous flight and several months of detention in Ukraine and was granted asylum after a few months and informed that he can stay at the reception centre in Bicske for six months. He then would receive some USD 1000 and have to move out and fend for himself. Omar was scared and did not see how he could survive. So he travelled on to Finland and applied for asylum not understanding that EU rules do not allow for multiple applications.

Deported back to Hungary, Omar found himself a place at a homeless shelter but was told the shelter would be closed down in December.

Omar has a driving licence, which is not recognised in Hungary. He started a computer course in Finland and was good at it, but there are no such offers for refugees in Hungary. „Given the chance, I will leave again," Omar says. „Even if I will be returned to Hungary again. It is better so stay in a reception centre somewhere in Europe for a few months than sleep in the streets in Budapest."

"They put me in front of Budapest airport but I had nowhere to go. I had no money, no warm clothes and knew nobody in Hungary" Abdurrahman explained. He ended up in the centre of Budapest where he spent three nights sleeping rough on Blaha Lujza Square.

After that, frozen, hungry, dirty, and afraid of skinheads and stories of racist attacks he sneaked in the Bicske Integration Centre, some 30 km west of Budapest. "This was the only place I knew in Hungary. " He managed to hide there fore three days, sheltered by some of his fellow countrymen, until he was discovered by security guards and removed from the facility. "They put my photo at the entrance of the Centre, as if I were a criminal. But, I just had no other place to go."

Jamal had bullets in his body
Jamal (24) was injured in a Mogadishu shooting that killed his wife and father. He cannot use his right arm and suffered terrible abdominal pains when he arrived in Hungary and applied for asylum. He was moved from centre to centre but never received medical treatment. Desperate, he left for the Netherlands and applied for asylum. He stayed for 18 months before being deported back to Hungary. However, in the Netherlands Jamal was hospitalised and bullets were removed from his stomach. Doctors told him that he will need one more surgery

Upon return, the Hungarian authorities offered Jamal a place in a mental institution, which he refused. He now sleeps in underground stations and goes hungry most of the time. He lives in constant fear because a drunken man once beat him up. With only one healthy arm Jamal cannot defend himself.

In many respects, Abdurrahman's story is representative for the refugees coming from Somalia. After being recognised as refugees they usually stay for a while in the mentioned Bicske pre-integration facility before moving other countries, typically in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and the UK.

Many Somalis told UNHCR that absence of opportunities to find a job and housing and the impossibility to reunite with their families in Hungary are the most compelling reasons for moving on. This is in sharp contrast with the popular perception that refugees are driven primarily by the desire of economic betterment.

Many of these refugees get deported back to Hungary, as it is the country responsible for providing them with international protection. By the time of their return, they have lost both their right to stay at the Bicske pre-integration facility, as well as the right to receive a 171,000 Forint (some 620 Euro) grant, designed help them start independent lives in Hungary. Upon return, refugees may still apply for a social assistance of some 100 EUR per month. But decisions on those social benefits take several weeks. So the returned Somalis face a particularly tough initial period. They need to survive on charity, sleeping rough or in the homes of people who agree to take them in for a night or two.

Even a homeless shelter is out of reach for Abdurrahman as he is shivering on a frozen bench on the Blaha Lujza Square. To be admitted he needs an ID card, an address card and a medical certificate testifying that he has no TB or other contagious disease. It doesn't sound too much to ask, but unfortunately it is, when somebody's only document is a boarding pass of a London - Budapest flight.

Hindan wants to kill herself
Hindan* is a 26 year old widow who left three children behind when she fled Somalia hoping to find protection in Europe. In Hungary, the asylum authorities told her that she would never be able to bring her children because they did not recognise Somali identity documents.

So Hindan left for Finland where she knew a friend of a friend. She presented herself to the authorities expecting to get some assistance and was shocked to be deported back to Hungary. At that time Hindan learned that two of her children were killed in crossfire and only her eight year old daughter is still alive.

Hindan currently lives in a homeless shelter in Budapest. She feels unsafe and is often harassed by male alcoholics. She eats bread once a day attends Hungarian language classes for refugees with little success. Hindan is illiterate. Also, the media of instruction is English, which she does not understand.

The young woman is sick and in pains. She receives treatment but no one could explain her the nature of her disease. "I see no way out of this. I think I am going to kill myself", she told UNHCR.

To obtain an ID card Aburrahman needs a certificate from the Office for Immigration and Nationality (OIN). For the address card he needs a statement from a relevant NGO. For the medical certificate he would have to produce a health insurance card - for which again, the certificate of OIN and the ID card is required. All this is achievable, but it takes language skills and time. And time is running out for him in the December chill on the squares and in the parks of Budapest.

Exactly this complexity of procedures and the deficiencies of the protection system prompted the UNHCR's Regional Representative for Central Europe, Gottfried Köfner last week to publicly voice concerns. He requested the Mayor of Budapest and to the ION to immediately provide accommodation to homeless Somalis. In a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, Köfner offered UNHCR assistance in reviewing the Hungarian integration policy in order create an efficient system that enables refugees to find jobs and live independently and in dignified conditions.

Unaware of this political turbulence caused by his plight and the plight of his countrymen, Abdurrahman is still working hard to collect all the documents needed to get him into the relative safety of a homeless shelter. And he is looking forward to the day, perhaps already in February, when his first installment of the 100 EUR monthly social assistance might arrive. Until then, he hopes and copes.

*Not their real names

By Zoltan Toth and Melita H. Šunjić
UNHCR Budapest