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Country analysis

Hungary


After the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2014, in February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion from Russian and Belarusian territory into northern, eastern, and southern Ukraine. This resulted in mass displacement within Ukraine and abroad, mostly to the EU.

As at 28 January 2024, over 65,000 refugees from Ukraine remained in Hungary, around 80% of whom were women and children. Since March 2022, more than 41,000 people had applied for temporary protection in Hungary, 38,000 of whom had received it.

The main needs identified in the 2024 Regional Response Plan are psychosocial support, employment, healthcare services, and food access. Ukrainian refugees in Hungary face multiple challenges such as language barriers, limited awareness of specialised services, strained local resources, limited income, and the absence of employment opportunities. At the same time, not all refugee children are enrolled in formal educational institutions given language barriers, limited capacity in national schools, stretched resources, shortages of teachers, and frequent bullying. Those enrolled require additional support to access accelerated learning programmes and language training to catch up.

(Atlantic Council 14/02/2023, UNHCR 15/01/2024, UNHCR accessed 30/01/2024, IOM 10/08/2023)

After the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2014, in February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion from Russian and Belarusian territory into northern, eastern, and southern Ukraine. This resulted in mass displacement within Ukraine and abroad, mostly to the EU.

As at 28 January 2024, over 65,000 refugees from Ukraine remained in Hungary, around 80% of whom were women and children. Since March 2022, more than 41,000 people had applied for temporary protection in Hungary, 38,000 of whom had received it.

The main needs identified in the 2024 Regional Response Plan are psychosocial support, employment, healthcare services, and food access. Ukrainian refugees in Hungary face multiple challenges such as language barriers, limited awareness of specialised services, strained local resources, limited income, and the absence of employment opportunities. At the same time, not all refugee children are enrolled in formal educational institutions given language barriers, limited capacity in national schools, stretched resources, shortages of teachers, and frequent bullying. Those enrolled require additional support to access accelerated learning programmes and language training to catch up.

(Atlantic Council 14/02/2023, UNHCR 15/01/2024, UNHCR accessed 30/01/2024, IOM 10/08/2023)

current crises
in Hungary


These crises have been identified through the INFORM Severity Index, a tool for measuring and comparing the severity of humanitarian crises globally.

Read more about the Index

HUN002 - Displacement from Russia-Ukraine conflict

Last updated 29/10/2024


Drivers

Conflict
Displacement

Crisis level

Country

Severity level

1.5 Low

Access constraints

0.0

Analysis products
on Hungary

Ukraine: regional overview of Ukrainian refugees in host countries

05 September 2023

Ukraine: regional overview of Ukrainian refugees in host countries

DOCUMENT / PDF / 2 MB

This report provides an overview of the situation of refugees from Ukraine in six host countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. The report aims to compare the scale of displacement in each country and their response capacity.

Mixed migration
Hungary: Ukrainian refugees

01 April 2022

Hungary: Ukrainian refugees

DOCUMENT / PDF / 509 KB

As at 28 March 2022, more than four million people had crossed international borders since the start of the hostilities in Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The rapid influx of migrants and refugees into the country has already posed a challenge to reception capacities, which the Hungarian Government has reduced in recent years to discourage migration.

Mixed migration
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