MAHATMA GHANDI HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Address: H-1142 Budapest, Szatmár u. 88/A Tel.: (36-1)-131-9471; fax: (36-1)-118-1414
Contact persons: Gibril Deen Chairman, Zoltán Aszalós Project-co-ordinator, H-l066 Budapest, Ó u.5.
Year of establishment: 1992
Main activities: The organisation supports non-European refugees residing in
Hun-gary, providing assistance for subsistence (food, accommodation), social integration,
set-tlernent, legal counselling and official administration. The organisation operates a refugee centre (for 40 persons), a Hungarian language school and a football team (African Stars), and presents cultural events featuring African culture. In addition, the Movement works to combat discrimination in media. It SUpp0l1Sabout 500 refugees yearly.
Number of volunteers and employed persons: About 20 volunteers and 3 employed persons are involved in the activities.
Main contributors: Dutch Embassy, Soros Foundation, ECRE, Budapest Mayor's Office, and Ministry of Public Education
Partner organisations: Pedagogical Institute in Budapest, UNHCR, Hungarian Red Cross, Inter-Church Aid, and Martin Luther King Association
HUNGARIAN HELSINKI COMMITTEE Address: H-1085 Budapest, József krt. 34.1/5.
Tel.: (36-1 )-334-4575 and 303-2168; fax: (36-1 )-314-0885 E-mail: helsinki@elender.hu
Contact person: Ferenc Köszeg, Executive Director Year of establishment: 1989
Main activities: The HHC regularly conducts fact-finding missions to monitor the enforcement of human rights in Hungary. The findings of such missions are made public in regular reports, which are distributed widely among domestic and international non-governmental human rights organisations. Since 1994 the Human Rights Counselling Of-fice of the HHC has provided free legal aid and representation before the Hungariarr and
international fora to anyone whose rights under the European Convention of Human Rights have been violated. Starting in 1995 the HHC has provided free legal aid for rni-grants, refugees and asylum seekers. The HHC undertook a fact-fiuding mission on the Kerepestarcsa alien police community shelter, and published a report in English as weil as in Hungarian on the human rights situation of aliens accommodated in the shelter. Based on local fact-finding, HHC has published newsletters in English, providing information on asylum seekers from former Yugoslavia (Temporarily Protected Persons) residing in Deb-recen (summer 1995) and Nagyatád (September 1996) refugee camps.
Number of volunteers and employed persons: 5 persons
Main contributors: German Marshall Fund, Open Society Fund, Hungarian Soros Foundation. Ford Foundation, Canada Cooperation Fund
Partner organisations: Hungarian Association for Migrants, Centre for Defence of Human Rights (MEJOK), Constitutional and Legislative Policy Institute (Budapest), Eu-ropean Romany Rights Centre (Budapest), Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (Budapest), International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (Vienna), Legal Protection Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities (NEKI, Budapest), Romany Press Centre (Budapest), Romany Civil Rights Foundation, UNHCR
Other relevant information: The HHC has published a newsletter (HR Monitor) in English and in Hungarian since 1996. The HR Monitor deals with legal issues affect ing of temporarily protected persons and asylum seekers (such as migrants from form er Yugo-slavia). The most recent project (the Legal Clinic) involves law students, lecturers and legal practitioners in legal counselling for indigent criminal defendants and migrants who face expulsion and refoulement.
HUNGARIAN MAL TESE CHARITY SERVICE Address: H-1125 Budapest, Szarvas Gábor u. 58-60.
Tel: (36-1 )-200-8372,200-8371, 176-0177; fax: (36-1 )-176-0277,200-8370 Contact person: Imre Kozma, President
Year of establishment: 1989
Main activities: Since 1991 the organisation has provided programmes to sUppOI1mi-grants. Various assistance projects provide help for socially deprived migrants, counsel-ling for temporary displaced persons from former Yugoslavia, and distribute fo od and
c1othes. Information on supported refugees is available in the Maltese Charity Service's
own database. The group has also organised some training sessions, and meetings to help implement UNHCR's project. Pursuant to an agreement with the Office for Refugee and Migration Affairs, the Maltese Service helps repatriating migrants by providing one-time financial assistance, packets for the return journey and packages for life at home.
Number of volunteers and employed persons: 4 social counsellors
Main contributors and partner organisations: Office for Refugee and Migration Affairs (Ministry of the Interior), UNHCR
Other relevant information: Regional centres of the Service operate in Pécs and Sze-ged; 6 county centres operate in Baranya, Somogy, Tolna, Bács-Kiskun, Csongrád and Bé-kés counties.
REFUGEE SERVICE OF THE HUNGARIAN RED CROSS Address: H-1116 Budapest, Fonyód u. 4.
Tel: (36-1 )-208-0202; fax: (36-1 )-208-0201 Contact person: István Major, Head of Service Year of establishment: 1989
Main activities: Aceording to the agreement conc\uded with UNHCR, the Service provides immediate assistance (accommodation in shelters run by the Service, other' types of social assistance to ass ist integration) for non-European asylum seekers and Mandate refugees. The shelter and assistance programme has supported roughly 2,500 refugees and about 10,000 temporary protected persons from fonner Yugoslavia. Most recently the Service has assisted repatriation efforts. The Service directs the Red Cross local branches in assisting refugees and migrants in the different regions, assists migrants in need res id-ing in public shelters run by the Border Guard, and publishes newsletters on refugee is-sues.
Number of volunteers and employed persons: 10 volunteers and 7 employees Main contributors: International Federation of Red Cross, National Societies of Red Cross (for instance, those in Germany, France, Denmark, and Austria)
Partner organisations: Ministry of the Interior, Police, Border Guard, Inter-Church Aid, 10M, UNHCR, ICRC, and ECRE
HUNGARIAN ASSOCIATION FOR MIGRANTS Address: H-I068 Budapest, Benczúr u. 33.
Tel./fax: (36-1 )-342-9571 E-mail: sik@tarki.hu
Contact persons: Endre Sik, Chairrnan; Judit Tóth, Project Co-ordinator Year of establishment: 1995
Main activities: The Association works to ensure the legal protection of vulnerable migrants as weil as to represent migrants correctly in the politicai process. For these pur-poses legal counselling is provided for asylum seekers, refugees, temporarily protected persons and non-refouled migrants through law offices in Budapest, Szeged and Pécs.
Our 6 legal practitioners ensure legal advice and representation in the administrative process and judicial procedure free of charge. Association lawyers provided the necessary legal work occasioned by the UNHCR programme for small business gran ts for tempo-rarily protected persons settled in Hungary. Moreover, the Association has made major efforts to improve the asylum law and refugee policy (comments on draft legal rules and proposals on migration policy submitted to government agencies), and to educate the public about migration through conferences on integration of refugees, the role of mi-grants in the informal economy and ethnic preferences, through regular meetings with other NGOs, and local and international experts, as weil as through dialogue with mayors' offices. This Association has also prepared leaflets relating to refugees' and migrants' rights in 5 languages, and distributed them in camps, shelters, detention centres, crossing-points, mayors' offices and to NGOs. The Association publishes a monthly newsietter
(Oltalomkeresők) in Hungarian that surveys developments in legal practice, statistics on migratory movements, and opinions ofNGOs working in this field (300 copies distributed to mayor offices, NGOs, camps). Supported by the PHARE programrnes, the Association co-operates with the editor of Migration News Sheet and other refugee support organisa-tions, as weil asexchanges relevant information on legal cases with lawyers in other coun-tries.
Number of volunteers and employed persons: 5 part-time employees
Main contributors: UNHCR, European Union, Canadian Co-operation Fund, Dutch Embassy, and JOM
Partner organisations: Mayor's Offices of Local Self-govemments, Institute for Po-liticaI Sciences (HAS), UNHCR, ECRE, AIRE (London), Migration News Sheet (Brussels), Office for Refugee and Migration Affairs, Border Guards, HHC, MEJOK, R.
Wallenberg Association, Mayor's Office (Frankfurt)
MARTIN LUTHER KING ORGANISATION Address: H-1113 Budapest, Zsombolyai u.3.
Tel./fax: (36-1)-166-4116
Contact person: Dr. Csaba Mester Year of establishment: 1991
Main activities: The principal objective of the MLKO isto mediate contlict between Hungarians and coloured people (irrespective of their origin or legal status) stemming from prejudice, bigotry, extreme nationalism, pathogenic beliefs, hysteria triggered by ignorance of foreign countries, isolation or misunderstandings. The other focus of our activities deals with the trans-migrat ion of foreigners who arrive in Hungary as refugees and whose assistance isin close connection with the geographical reservation of Hungar-ianGovemment tothe 1951 Geneva Convention. On-going projects are asfollows:
• research and documentation of neo-Nazi phenomena in Hungary since 1991;
• free legal advice for victims ofhuman rights violation since 1991;
• education and public awareness campaigns to combat prejudices, misunderstandings and rac ism ("Understand" Project at elementary and secondary schools, for instance 43 c1asses in District IX and 37c1asses in District VIlI will bevisited by volunteers in 1997);
• education for non-European refugees (language and cultural-orientation courses) to-gether with RedCross, Ministry of Public Education and UNHCR ("Reachout" Project);
• management of Coloured Club for mixed marriage parents and their children to help overcome daily problems (religious, racial, legal).
Number of volunteers and employed persons: 10 volunteers and 1 employee Main contributors: Soros Foundation, Hungarian Parliament, Canadian Embassy, Swiss Embassy, and the PHARE Programme
Partner organisations: UNHCR, Red Cross, HQ of Police, Border Guard, Office for Refugees and Migration Affairs, self-govemments (in the capital, etc.), COLPI, Interights, ECRE