For information only - not an official document

UNIS/MA/254
9 July 2019

Re-issued as received

MEDIA ADVISORY

UN human rights expert to assess situation of migrants in Hungary

GENEVA 9 July (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) - The independent United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales, will visit Hungary from 10 to 17 July 2019.

The Special Rapporteur will assess the country's current laws, policies and practices, and their impact on the human rights of all migrants.

He will hold meetings with relevant governmental authorities, the judiciary, United Nations agencies, civil society organizations, as well as migrants. He will also visit asylum reception centres, including for children, immigration detention facilities, alien policing facilities, and the transit zones.

At the end of the visit, González Morales will share his preliminary conclusions and recommendations at a news conference on Wednesday, 17 July at 16:00, at Novotel Budapest Danube Hotel, Bem rakpart 33-34, 1027 Budapest. Access is strictly limited to journalists. 

The Special Rapporteur's report will be submitted to the Human Rights Council in June 2020.

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Mr. Felipe González Morales (Chile) was appointed Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants in June 2017 by the UN Human Rights Council, for an initial period of three years. As a Special Rapporteur, he is independent from any government or organization and serves in his individual capacity. He is Professor of International Law at the Diego Portales University, in Santiago, Chile, where he is also the Director of a Master's programme in International Human Rights Law.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights country page - Hungary

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For more information and media requests , please contact: Ms. Yiyao Zhang (+41 22 917 85 94 / +41 (0)79 752 0486 / yzhang@ohchr.org ) Renate Bucher (+41 22 917 94 70 / +41 (0)79 752 0485 / rbucher@ohchr.org )

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact: Mr. Jeremy Laurence, UN Human Rights - Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org )

Follow news related to the UN's independent human rights experts on Twitter  @UN_SPExperts.