ECtHR, 22 September 2022, H.K. v. Hungary, Appl. no. 18531/17 and 13 October 2022, T.Z. and Others v. Poland, Appl. no. 41764/17

You shall not pass! Poland and Hungary and the routine of collective expulsions at their borders

Abstract

With the judgments delivered in H.K. v. Hungary and T.Z. and Others v. Poland the European Court of Human Rights has found, once again, a violation of the prohibition of collective expulsions of aliens, established under Article 4, Protocol No. 4, of the European Convention on Human Rights. Such a breach of the Convention by Poland and Hungary does not appear to be purely episodic. Rather, as acknowledged by the Court itself, it represents a systemic practice, implemented according to recurring and precise patterns. Collective expulsions and denial of asylum procedures at the Polish and Hungarian borders, thus, have turned into a routine and a “normal” form of migration management.