Despite recommendations from international human rights bodies and mechanisms, in April Congress decided to maintain the prohibition of abortion in all circumstances in the new Criminal Code. REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS Widespread violence across Honduras remained a key factor of forced migration from the country. According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, between January and October, 14,735 Hondurans sought asylum worldwide, mostly in Mexico and the USA. However, large numbers of Hondurans also continued to be forcibly returned from these countries to the same life-threatening situations which initially pushed them to escape. To date, there was no comprehensive mechanism or protocol to detect and address in a systematic manner the protection needs of deportees. HUNGARY Hungary Head of state: János Áder Head of government: Viktor Orbán The systematic crackdown on the rights of refugees and migrants continued. Foreignfunded universities and NGOs faced restrictions under new legislation. BACKGROUND The government faced domestic protests and increased international scrutiny for its continued rollback on human rights and noncompliance with EU law. The European Commission launched and moved forward with four formal infringement proceedings following the introduction of legislation deemed incompatible with EU freedoms, and in May the European Parliament adopted a comprehensive resolution expressing alarm at the situation of human rights in the country. More than a quarter of the population remained at risk of poverty and social exclusion and 16% were severely materially deprived. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS Hungary continued to severely restrict access to the country for refugees and asylumseekers, limiting admission to its two operational border “transit zones” in which only 10 new asylum applications could be submitted per working day. Consequently, between 6,000 and 8,000 people were left in inadequate conditions in Serbia, in substandard camps and at risk of homelessness and of refoulement further south to Macedonia and Bulgaria. In March, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Ilias and Ahmed v. Hungary that the confinement of asylum-seekers in “transit zones”, essentially heavily guarded container camps at Hungary’s external land borders, amounted to arbitrary deprivation of liberty. The Court also found that, due to the poor conditions in which asylum-seekers were held for weeks and the lack of judicial remedies available against this form of detention, Hungary had failed to provide adequate protection against a real risk of inhuman and degrading treatment. The same month, a package of amendments to five laws on migration and asylum was passed in the National Assembly, enabling the automatic detention, without judicial review, of all asylum-seekers in border “transit zones”, including unaccompanied minors of 14-18 years of age. These amendments also allowed for the detention of asylum-seekers for the whole duration of their asylum processes, including any appeals, and for the summary expulsion of all irregular migrants found on Hungarian territory to the external side of Hungary’s extensive border fences. Consequently, most asylum-seekers in Hungary either absconded from the procedure or were detained in the border “transit zones” indefinitely. By the end of the year, almost 500 asylum-seekers were unlawfully detained at the border. The Hungarian authorities denied or provided extremely limited access to human rights monitors and NGOs providing legal aid. These draconian measures were originally supposed to apply during a “crisis situation 187