A report adopted today by a Council of Europe children’s rights committee “deplores” the lack of effective measures taken to protect migrant and asylum-seeking children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse in transit zones at the Serbian/Hungarian border.
Following up on a visit to transit zones in 2017 and recommendations made to Hungarian authorities last year, the Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (“Lanzarote Committee”) has determined that children in these zones continue to face unnecessary risks, because Hungarian authorities have not done enough to protect them, despite a few positive developments (such as trainings put in place and the setting up of shaded areas).
From continued blocking of NGO access to the transit zones, to inadequate age verification, the report outlines enduring challenges that children face there.
