Deported to Serbia at 16, he has now won a case against the Hungarian state in Strasbourg

Karoh Pistevan, an Iraqi Kurd client of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee has won a case against the Hungarian state in Strasbourg, the human rights organization has announced on its website. The boy, only 16 years old at the time, was forced into Serbia by Hungarian police in 2017 without his case being investigated. Now, six and a half years after Karoh's deportation, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled that the Hungarian state had violated the law.

Karoh, 16, fled his native Iraq in 2017, and arrived in Hungary the same year. One early June morning, Hungarian police forced the Iraqi Kurdish boy to leave Hungary and go to Serbia. Given that he was still a minor at the time, he should have instead been placed in the children's home in Fót. The court expressed particular disapproval that, in this case, the victim whose rights were violated by the Hungarian state was a child in need of help. What makes Karoh's case even more appalling is the fact that he did not originally enter Hungary from Serbia, but from Romania.

"Rather than deporting children without due process, it would be much better for everyone if Hungary were to adjudicate asylum applications under a fair asylum system, because this way, the Hungarian government has only been causing suffering and harm for years. We are glad that justice has been somewhat restored, even if our client ended up being granted protection in another state."

– Tamás Fazekas, lawyer at the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Karoh's legal representative said, commenting on the Strasbourg ruling.

Since his deportation in 2017, the Kurdish young man has been living in Serbia, where the state recognised him as a refugee. He has obtained a driving license and became a cook, but he also wants to start a business. He is currently working as an interpreter for local organizations helping refugees – the same ones he received help from six and a half years ago.