Syrian ‘languishing’ in Hungarian detention hinges hopes on Greek Cyprus

A Syrian convicted by Hungarian courts is hinging his last hope on the Greek Cypriot administration to assure his return to his family in Cyprus.

Ahmed H has lived in Greek Cyprus since 2006. In 2015, as the Syrian civil war raged, he left Cyprus to help his elderly parents and six other family members enter the European Union to request asylum.

When the group of asylum seekers, with which Ahmed H travelled, reached Hungary’s border they were blocked from crossing by police, resulting in clashes.

Some of the asylum seekers, including Ahmed H, threw stones at police officers.

As a result of the clashes, Ahmed H was convicted of “complicity in an act of terror” by Hungarian courts.

According to a statement by Amnesty International (AI) delivered to TRT World, Hungary’s “extremely vague counter-terrorism laws” made this conviction possible.

He was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison, later reduced to seven years and then five with eligibility for early release after his second trial.

Ahmed H was conditionally released in January, when he was sent to a Hungarian migrant detention centre, pending a decision by the Greek Cypriot government to allow his return.

He said: “Speaking to my daughter on Skype, she asked ‘Baba, when are you coming home?’ and it broke my heart. After almost four years apart from my wife and two young daughters I do not understand why I cannot go home. I have a clean record in Cyprus, a business and a family.”

Hungary’s harsh stance towards immigrants

The Hungarian government, headed by the Fidesz party which holds a constitutional majority and has been called “far-right” by critics, has rallied against immigration since the height of the 2015 refugee crisis.

Ahead of the 2018 national elections, the government led a campaign which painted Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros as a pro-immigration, liberal boogeyman in league with globalist forces in Brussels, the seat of the EU parliament.  

Members of the government have said Soros’s plan is to dilute Europe’s Christian character by encouraging Muslim immigration.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who won re-election in 2018 called migration “a poison” in 2016, saying his country did not need a “single migrant” to have a working economy or a future.

Critics have further criticised the government’s consolidation of the media and courts.

For Amnesty International, the anti-migration rhetoric of the ruling party cannot be ignored.

“Ahmed should never have been prosecuted, let alone convicted of a terrorism offence. His treatment is part of Hungary’s systematic scapegoating of refugees and migrants,” Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights, said in a statement delivered to TRT World.

Ahmed H currently possesses no valid travel documents, as his Cypriot residence, which was acquired through marriage to a Greek Cypriot citizen, expired during his detention in Hungary.

Currently, he is “languishing” in a Hungarian detention centre, where he has awaited a decision from Cyprus for five months, Amnesty International said.  

It further highlighted the Hungarian government asking Ahmed H about a return to Syria.

Though he is a Syrian national, Ahmed H “would be at risk of serious human rights violation should he be forcibly sent back to Syria”, Amnesty International said in the statement.   

When asked for comment on Amnesty’s report on Ahmed H, a spokesperson for the Hungarian government told TRT World: “[The resort] is not a surprise. Various fake civil society organisations and Soros-backed organisations have been, and are very actively lobbying against Hungary and Amnesty International is part of the Soros network.”

The NGO, they continued: “[Promotes] migration, and is also encouraging terrorism, since it has become again a defence attorney for terrorists. Hungarian courts have convicted Ahmed H, he is a terrorist who in 2015 led an attack against Hungarian police defending the Hungarian border.”

For its part, Amnesty International hopes the situation will be resolved quickly.

“The fate of Ahmed H now lies in the hands of the Cypriot government as does the future happiness of his wife and young daughters”, said Hall.

“The authorities offer hope that the injustice Ahmed has already suffered will not be cruelly extended any longer, and that he is finally permitted to return home to be reunited with his family.”