Hungary's 2025 Asylum Report: Increased Detentions, Pushbacks, and Integration Challenges

Hungary's 2025 AIDA Country Report details developments in asylum procedures, reception, detention, and international protection. The «state of crisis due to mass migration» remained in effect, allowing divergence from EU asylum standards and nationwide pushbacks without legal recourse. The embassy procedure, introduced in May 2020, continued with new exceptions for unaccompanied children in Hungary. Hungary maintained its opposition to the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.

In 2025, Hungary recorded 5,580 pushbacks, a slight decrease from 5,713 in 2024, attributed to intensified police operations in Northern Serbia. Asylum applications increased to 113 from 29 in 2024, yet no entry recommendations were issued via the embassy procedure, and applications from those already in the country were consistently rejected. Only 72 Dublin transfers occurred. Asylum interviews, extended to five hours, suffered from inadequate conditions. Reception centers had low occupancy, and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee was denied access to facilities.

Asylum detention saw an 11.9% increase, with 104 people detained awaiting Dublin transfers (up from 83 in 2024). While the Hungarian Helsinki Committee was denied access to detention facilities, Menedék – Hungarian Association for Migrants secured access for a social worker in November. The European Court of Human Rights issued three judgments finding breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding transit zone detentions.

Regarding international protection, rejections of citizenship applications for beneficiaries doubled, and 187 statuses were withdrawn (up from 50 in 2024). Beneficiaries returning from other EU states faced difficulties accessing housing and identity documents, and state-funded integration support remained absent.

For temporary protection, 43,300 beneficiaries were registered by December 31, 2025, with 6,091 new registrations in 2025 (down from 8,070 in 2024). Third-country nationals with permanent residence in Ukraine were ineligible for temporary protection, prompting a preliminary reference to the CJEU. No plans were made for the end of the Temporary Protection Directive regime. Since August 2024, only those from «war-affected areas» of Ukraine qualified for state-subsidized accommodation, leading to forced relocations, hindering access to education and employment, and sometimes resulting in exploitative labor. Beneficiaries also faced difficulties accessing healthcare and education due to language barriers and institutional knowledge gaps.