U.S. Department of State 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report - Hungary

Hungary (Tier 2)

Hungary is a source, transit, and destination country for women and girls trafficked from Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, the Balkans, and the P.R.C. to Austria, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Switzerland, Japan, the United States, the U.K., and several countries in Scandinavia and Central America for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Hungarian women are trafficked primarily to Western and Northern Europe and to North America. There is also evidence that men and boys as young as 12 are trafficked from Romania to Budapest for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The majority of victims of sexual exploitation within Hungary are minors.

The Government of Hungary does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The Hungarian Government has shown considerable commitment over the last year to increase its efforts in combating human trafficking. The government signed an inter-agency memorandum of understanding that put into place an official policy of referring identified trafficking victims to NGOs for care. Parliament passed the Victims' Compensation Act to provide government-issued payments as well as medical, legal, and social assistance to victims of all crimes, including trafficking. Parliament also passed an act granting authority to the Border Guard to investigate trafficking cases; this will greatly increase the government's ability to conduct anti-trafficking investigations. Despite the past year's considerable progress, more remains to be done. Evidence suggests that local police patrols do not vigorously investigate trafficking activity; police reportedly are aware that traffickers control many women in prostitution in Hungary, but do not attempt to arrest these traffickers due to apathy, fear of retribution, or bribes. Police should receive more sensitivity training and prosecutors should receive additional training to make the judicial process more effective. The government should establish a central office and a national action plan to better coordinate anti-trafficking efforts.

Prosecution

The Hungarian Government showed modest progress in its law enforcement efforts to combat human trafficking during the reporting period. Police conducted 28 trafficking investigations, and prosecutions of suspected traffickers increased from 21 in 2004 to 27 in 2005. Data on convictions of traffickers were unavailable for 2005. Of the 42 reported convictions in 2004, 26 traffickers were sentenced to time in prison, five were given fines or ancillary punishments, and 11 traffickers received suspended sentences. The government provided training for its officials in how to recognize, investigate, and prosecute traffickers. In addition, government officials attended several NGO conferences. Hungary cooperated regularly with other governments in trafficking investigations; one notable investigation involved cooperation with Swiss and French law enforcement agencies and resulted in the arrest of several French traffickers in March 2006. The government also extradited two suspected Romanian traffickers to Romania, one suspected Romanian trafficker to Austria, and one suspected Hungarian trafficker to Hungary from Switzerland.

Protection

The Hungarian Government showed mixed progress in its efforts to protect and assist trafficking victims over the reporting period. The government provided only limited assistance to anti-trafficking NGOs in 2005, though it did donate several buildings for the creation of an NGO trafficking shelter in Hungary, and in early 2006, it granted $47,000 to a victim protection NGO. Police referred 12 victims to the new trafficking shelter that opened in 2005, and a formal victim referral process with an emphasis on victim protection was enacted in November 2005. However, concerns remained that the cumbersome nature of the process and lack of communication between ministries will challenge the effectiveness of the new referral process. The lack of effort among low-level officials to properly identify victims remained a problem. Although it is not the policy of the government to jail, detain, or deport trafficking victims, the lack of adequate victim screening or identification efforts resulted in victims occasionally being punished for unlawful acts that were a direct result of their being trafficked. Some victims were also denied legal alternatives to their removal to countries in which they faced hardship or retribution.

Prevention

The government continued to work closely with NGOs and IOM to promote public awareness over the last year. The government in early 2006 committed formally to $36,000 in funding for three IOM public awareness programs. Anti-trafficking materials prepared by NGOs continued to be included in different state-run university programs. The government cooperated with IOM to conduct trafficking prevention and awareness programs for potential victims as well as trafficking awareness training for police, border guards, prosecutors, consular officers, and judicial officials. The government did not sponsor any demand reduction programs in 2005.