Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms. * Proactively identify trafficking victims by screening for trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations, including migrants, asylum-seekers, unaccompanied children, and children in state-run institutions, and implement amendments to the NRM that include third-country nationals. * Ensure trafficking victims are not inappropriately incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. * Cease the abrupt and violent removal of third-country nationals who could be or could become trafficking victims and train authorities to recognize indicators of trafficking among vulnerable groups. * Bolster efforts to protect children residing in state-run institutions and individuals who leave these institutions against trafficking. * Allocate adequate funding to NGOs for victim support services and streamline the process for receiving those funds. * Increase efforts to regulate foreign labor recruitment in Hungary, such as empowering the labor authority to regulate labor recruitment agencies and impose fines or punishments on agencies that commit trafficking crimes. * Amend the anti-trafficking law to ensure that force, fraud, or coercion are not required for sex trafficking crimes involving child victims. * Increase victim-centered, trauma-informed training for law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and front-line workers. * Increase the number of trafficking victims receiving compensation by ensuring authorities inform victims of their right to compensation and providing legal support to pursue it.

The government maintained prosecution efforts. Section 192 of the criminal code criminalized all forms of labor trafficking and some forms of sex trafficking. Section 192 prescribed penalties of one to 10 years’ imprisonment for crimes involving an adult victim, and five to 20 years’ or life imprisonment for those involving a child victim. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. Legislative amendments from 2020 helped align the Hungarian definition of trafficking with the international definition by more precisely defining exploitation and including force, fraud, or coercion as an essential element of the base crime of adult trafficking. However, inconsistent with international law, the amended Section 192 required a demonstration of force, fraud, or coercion to constitute a child sex trafficking crime, thereby not criminalizing all forms of child sex trafficking. Judicial officials continued to assert the law implicitly established that force, fraud, or coercion were not required to constitute child sex trafficking, and that this therefore was not a barrier in successfully prosecuting and obtaining convictions in child sex trafficking cases. Section 203 of the criminal code, which criminalized crimes relating to the “exploitation of child prostitution,” could be utilized to prosecute some child sex trafficking crimes that did not necessarily involve force, fraud, or coercion. Section 203 prescribed penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment, which were not sufficiently stringent nor commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. Penalties under this provision increased only if a person was “supported partly or wholly by profiting” from such exploitation of a child or for maintaining or operating a brothel for the purposes of such exploitation of a child. In addition, Section 193 criminalized forced labor, with sentences ranging from one to five years’ imprisonment for crimes involving an adult victim and two to eight years’ imprisonment for those involving a child victim. The 2020 amendments criminalized all forms of labor trafficking, including forced labor, under Section 192, thus, superseding Section 193. Observers noted a gap in the law remained that could allow the prosecution of a victim if that victim consented to the crime without coercion. The PGO instructed prosecutors not to prosecute such victims.

In 2023, police investigated 150 trafficking cases, a significant decrease from 219 in 2022. Authorities prosecuted 166 suspected traffickers, a decrease from 180 in 2022. Courts convicted 74 traffickers, an increase from 67 in 2022. Courts issued 66 traffickers prison sentences, ranging from six months to 15 years, but suspended 14 of those sentences. In addition, courts ordered fines, confiscated property, and imposed restrictions on certain activities, such as using social media. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) maintained a specialized unit dedicated to investigating trafficking cases with an international or organized crime connection and cooperated with foreign counterparts on several international investigations, resulting in 17 indictments against traffickers. Most frequent information exchanges were with Austria, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (UK). The Prosecution Service, which functioned independently of the government, cooperated with foreign judicial authorities on three international legal procedures involving human trafficking, each of which took place abroad by a Hungarian citizen against another Hungarian citizen and resulted in prosecutions. In addition, the Prosecution Service, with the support of the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, established a Joint Investigation Team with Romanian counterparts on a labor trafficking case involving Romanian citizens in Hungary. In 2023, NBI, the Ministry of Economic Development, and the National Directorate General of Aliens Policing, in coordination with EUROPOL, Frontex, and INTERPOL, participated in a joint action day focused on detecting and disrupting organized crime groups involved in human trafficking, particularly child trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced criminality, and forced begging.

Six regional investigation units with nationwide jurisdiction under the Transnational Crime Department of NBI also worked on trafficking investigations on a case-by-case basis. In general, county police with territorial jurisdiction conducted trafficking investigations. Police maintained anti-trafficking senior supervisor officers in all 20 county police headquarters to increase detection of trafficking and direct the investigative work in trafficking cases. The National Police Headquarters provided professional supervision and training for the county police headquarters, such as on detecting trafficking cases and identifying victims, and published guidance and information on human trafficking for officers on its website. Police credited enhanced training to shifting how officers viewed and approached trafficking, stating that police began to approach individuals in commercial sex as potential trafficking victims instead of suspects or criminals. The National Police Headquarters, in cooperation with the National Media and Communications Authority, began drafting regulations that would hold content providers using the Internet accountable for any content related to human trafficking on their websites.

County-level chief prosecution offices filed charges and motions for arrest in trafficking cases, and the PGO provided professional supervision, guidance, and training for subordinate prosecution offices. The PGO maintained a network of specialized prosecutors at the county level responsible for ensuring the uniform procedural handling of trafficking cases and facilitating the detection of trafficking. In 2023, the network developed a practical guide to assist the work of prosecutors and investigating authorities on trafficking cases, particularly those involving vulnerable groups. The PGO required county chief prosecutors to designate a prosecutor with expertise to handle trafficking cases and related crimes, such as procuring commercial sex. The PGO also required the designated prosecutor to support local-level district prosecution offices in identifying potential trafficking cases qualified as other crimes at the beginning of criminal proceedings and to cooperate with police, child protection services, the labor inspectorate, county-level victim support services, and NGOs, including shelters. According to police, prosecution offices, and the courts, while there was no trafficking-specific budget for these organizational units, financial resources were sufficient to cover trafficking-related tasks. In 2023, the government provided a range of trafficking-related trainings for judges, prosecutors, investigators, and professionals, including on criminological characteristics of trafficking, interagency cooperation in investigations, understanding trauma, and detecting digital traces of trafficking.

The government increased protection efforts. In 2023, the government identified 163 victims (64 sex trafficking, 48 labor trafficking, and 51 unspecified forms of trafficking), a notable decrease from 223 in 2022 but similar to prior years (171 in 2021). NGOs identified an additional 39 trafficking victims (14 sex trafficking, 21 labor trafficking, and four unspecified forms of trafficking) in 2023. The vast majority of identified victims were Hungarian citizens. Of the 163 identified victims, 83 were women and 55 were men. In addition, authorities identified 25 children (41 in 2022) and eight foreign nationals (four in 2022). Government Decree no. 354/2012 established the NRM and regulated the identification of victims and their referral to assistance. The decree included the authorities responsible for identifying victims, such as police, border guards, labor inspectors, and health professionals; a questionnaire to be completed with suspected victims; and procedural protocols. The decree also included a list of trafficking indicators and flowcharts – one for victims in Hungary and another for Hungarian victims abroad – to assist with the identification of victims and management of trafficking cases. After years of experts’ recommendations to include foreign victims without legal residency in the decree, in 2023, parliament approved an amendment authorizing the government to include third-country nationals in the NRM. However, the process to implement the amendment stalled with the Ministry of Interior (MOI), and officials did not provide a timeline for when the amendment would enter into force. Observers reported challenging interagency coordination, particularly regarding decisions on asylum-seekers, hampered victim identification among and limited resources to support foreign victims. Experts continued to express concern authorities did not screen or adequately identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as asylum-seekers, unaccompanied children, and children in state-run institutions. To address these concerns, the government provided guidance for asylum officers on identifying foreign trafficking victims and a questionnaire with trafficking-related questions for asylum interviews. With the support of UNICEF, the Border Police organized a training on identifying trafficking victims during first-line border checks for border police and staff working on immigration and asylum. Despite these trainings, in 2023, border police and immigrations did not identify any victims among asylum-seekers. After identification and procurement of victims’ written consent, authorities recorded victims’ information into the government’s digital victim support system (EKAT), which provided information on support services, such as placement in shelters. The Victim Support Act automatically entitled all victims of crime to support services unless they explicitly asked authorities not to record their personal data into EKAT.

In 2023, of the 163 identified trafficking victims, the government provided victim support services to 159 victims (98 percent), a significant increase from 82 of 223 (37 percent) in 2022. The government attributed the increase to more resources, such as the new shelter in Budapest, available to assist victims. In 2023, heads of relevant institutions signed an agreement establishing a national coordination mechanism to enhance the efficiency of the victim support system, boost interagency coordination, and comprehensively meet the diverse needs of victims. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) oversaw the victim support system, which included Victim Support Services, victim support centers, and a victim support hotline. Victim Support Services coordinated with various stakeholders, such as police, child welfare, and NGOs, to determine the needs of victims and the relevant services to provide. Victim support centers provided support tailored to the needs of victims, focusing on victims with specialized needs, such as children. The MOJ continued to build a nationwide network of victim support centers by opening one more in 2023, making services available in 11 county capitals and Budapest, with nationwide coverage projected by 2025. In areas where the centers were unavailable, the MOJ operated victim support “hot-spots” to facilitate implementation of victim support. The centers and “hot-spots” assisted victims of domestic abuse and other crimes, including trafficking. The government allocated approximately 1.21 billion Hungarian forint (HUF) ($3.5 million) for the centers and EKAT, a significant increase from 1.08 billion HUF ($3.12 million) in 2022. These expenditures were for victims of domestic violence and other crimes, including trafficking. Generally, NGOs regarded the victim support system as satisfactory but noted the government still lacked a sophisticated perspective on addressing all aspects of trafficking and needed to allocate its resources more effectively. Government-funded NGOs operated three shelters that provided accommodation, transportation, reintegration assistance, family care, financial management advice, and medical care. Each shelter had two associated transitional houses that established and strengthened independent living and continued to provide assistance from social workers, psychologists, and lawyers as needed. In addition, a crisis intervention home was available for victims in serious danger and distress, providing time for recovery and rest while victim support specialists assessed their situation, needs, and vulnerability. In 2023, the government established a new shelter for male trafficking victims; opened three new transitional houses providing accommodation and reintegration facilities for victims leaving shelters; and allocated 22 million HUF ($63,620) toward the opening of the shelter and transitional houses. In addition, in 2023, the government dedicated 15 spaces in elderly care homes for elderly trafficking victims, who typically needed long-term accommodation and assistance but did not qualify for reintegration housing, and provided those victims with assistance. In 2023, the government allocated 99.3 million HUF ($287,180) to NGOs for shelters, transitional houses, and the crisis intervention home and an additional 15 million HUF ($43,380) for the maintenance of emergency vehicles, a significant increase from 74.9 million HUF ($216,612) and 14 million HUF ($40,490), respectively, in 2022. The EU’s Internal Security Fund, which combined 25 percent domestic money with 75 percent EU funding, funded the majority of the government’s operative work, including anti-trafficking initiatives; however, for most of 2023, these funds were unavailable because of the European Commission’s concerns about rule of law and corruption in Hungary. Civil society continued to express concern about limited government financial assistance and significant delays – up to a year in some instances – in receiving funding, resulting in strained NGO operations as shelters were overextended and underfunded. NGOs often had to rely on funding from private companies or religious organizations or find tender opportunities to ensure their continued operation. Moreover, as a result of lack of funding, an international organization reported it no longer offered reintegration assistance to victims identified abroad.

Hungarian law included a general protection measure for child trafficking victims, requiring police to place potential child victims in designated shelters for up to 60 days to protect them from further exploitation. In 2023, the government opened four such shelters, making a total of nine shelters (one exclusively for boys) available nationwide for children under the protection measure; these shelters provided victims access to health care and psychological support. During the 60 days, the National Child Protection Expert Committee decided whether victims would be placed in a long-term shelter or returned to their family or the previous institution where they lived. In 2023, the police applied the general protection measure to six child trafficking victims (five girls and one boy) all of whom were already under the care of child protection services. In 2023, the MOI’s Department for Child Protection and Guardianship partially funded a study on the requirements, such as infrastructure investment, to establish a shelter dedicated to child trafficking victims. One NGO noted, with the establishment of a dedicated children’s shelter, the general protection measure would become redundant and criticized the measure for its lack of flexibility in real-world situations. Experts continued to express concerns children in state-run homes and orphanages, especially children with disabilities, such as girls with special needs or dual needs, were particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking – approximately 23,000 children lived in state-run institutions, including 300 younger than three years of age. National regulations required child protection institutions and state-run homes to report all suspected cases of child sex trafficking. While authorities typically did not penalize child victims, in 2023, a regional court found a child trafficking victim guilty of unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked and sentenced the child to serve four years of correctional education. The case remained pending at the second instance prosecution office because of an appeal. Experts questioned the accuracy of government data on the penalization of children noting children were most likely detained by authorities for short periods of time. The law stipulated the government utilize the Barnahus method – a child-friendly, multidisciplinary approach offering child victims a coordinated and effective response during criminal proceedings. The approach enabled authorities to carry out crisis interventions, medical and forensic examinations, and interviews in one place, thus, protecting child victims from the traumatizing effects of multiple witness testimonies and other risks related to criminal proceedings. The government maintained five Barnahus centers nationwide. The MOI provided a comprehensive handbook with recommendations for family and child welfare services staff on recognizing trafficking indicators, identifying victims, and providing meaningful assistance. Through the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, child protection professionals received a 30-hour vocational training on child trafficking. Additional educational efforts supported by the government and police included trainings and workshops for professionals in the social and child protection sector on identifying child trafficking victims and providing support. The government operated a 24-hour child protection hotline that could assist child trafficking victims.

While the NRM did not apply to foreign victims without legal residency, the government granted ad hoc approval to a government-funded NGO to provide services, such as financial support, shelter, and health care, in cases when the NGO requested it. Foreign victims could receive a 30-day reflection period to decide whether to assist law enforcement, during which they were eligible for a certificate of temporary stay for up to six months. Those who cooperated with authorities were entitled to a residence permit for the duration of their cooperation. In 2023, the government did not grant any new residence permits for victims, but extended the humanitarian residence permit of a Mozambican victim. The law required the government to provide 22,800 HUF ($66) per month for one year to third-country nationals who were trafficking victims. In 2023, the government did not pay any victims. The law also required the government to provide trafficking victims who were identified during the asylum process with immediate psychological or psychiatric assistance through its reception facility, and, if necessary, accommodation through victim support services. The Victim Support Act allowed victims of violent crimes, such as human trafficking, to receive legal aid. The law also allowed victims to obtain restitution from traffickers in criminal cases and file civil suits against traffickers for compensation. In 2023, courts did not order restitution or award compensation to trafficking victims. Experts raised concerns at the low number of trafficking victims who received compensation and called for the government to inform victims of their right to compensation and provide legal support to pursue it. The government implemented protective measures for victims participating in criminal proceedings as needed, including allowing video testimony and providing safe housing; in 2023, authorities placed six victims participating in criminal proceedings in safe housing.

The government increased prevention efforts. The MOI’s Deputy Secretary of State acted as the National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator and chaired the national coordination mechanism, which facilitated anti-trafficking efforts and monitored the implementation of the national anti-trafficking strategy. The government continued to implement its NAP for the 2020-2023 national anti-trafficking strategy and began developing a new four-year NAP. The NAP assigned financial and operational responsibility to various government agencies and ministries and outlined strategic objectives, such as developing specialized services for male victims. The government annually allocated 10 million HUF ($28,920) to the MOI for combating trafficking and implementing the national strategy and, in 2023, allocated 30 million HUF ($86,760) to trafficking prevention training under the national strategy’s action plan. In cooperation with an international organization, the police continued to raise awareness among children on the dangers of trafficking through a theatrical performance and drama pedagogy sessions and among academic and child protection institutions. In addition, the government raised public awareness about trafficking by distributing information on available victim services, including legal aid, in multiple languages. In 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Innovation allocated 15.7 million HUF ($45,405) to an NGO for a victim support project aimed at enhancing cooperation with Austria, a destination country for Hungarian victims; exchanging information between Austrian and Hungarian NGOs and government institutions; and developing services for returning victims who did not reside in a shelter. The government supported the operation of an NGO-run, 24-hour national hotline, allocating approximately 202 million HUF ($584,190) in 2023. The hotline provided services in multiple languages and assisted victims of domestic violence and trafficking. In 2023, the hotline assisted and referred 62 victims. Experts from the hotline provided training for police on dealing with trafficking crimes and the victim support system. The government made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts by conducting a nationwide awareness campaign addressing and discouraging the demand for commercial sex.

Hungarian law regulated companies employing numerous third-country nationals and specialized staff to increase transparency and prevent the flow of labor into the black and grey economy and reduce the risk of foreign workers becoming trafficking victims. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade published the list of approved countries from which foreign labor was allowed under the law and was responsible for regulating those companies. Hungarian law prohibited recruitment fees by private employment agencies, regulated employers’ compliance with labor laws, and detailed the law’s enforcement by the labor inspection authority, including punitive administrative sanctions prohibiting the further employment of workers and fines. The labor inspection authority did not have the competency to inspect labor recruitment agencies or impose fines or punishments on foreign labor exchange agencies that committed trafficking crimes, but it could assess agencies’ compliance with regulations concerning temporary work. The Ministry for National Economy and the National Police continued to implement a three-year cooperation agreement authorizing police and labor inspectors to conduct regular and coordinated joint labor inspections, averaging one unannounced inspection per month in each of Hungary’s counties through the end of 2023; the labor inspectorate and police began a process to extend the agreement until the end of 2024. Authorities targeted high-risk sectors and environments and, in 2023, did not identify any trafficking victims. In addition, the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing, police, and labor authority screened for trafficking indicators among foreign employees while conducting site inspections. Observers noted regulating mechanisms, such as inspections, remained inadequate to address labor violations, including labor trafficking, and most recruiting agencies operated with inadequate oversight. Moreover, observers reported labor recruiting laws in Hungary were far less strict than in the rest of the EU – typically recruiting foreign workers took six to nine months in most European countries but in some instances the process took as little as 45 days in Hungary – resulting in an elevated risk of trafficking. In 2023, a government official reported about 500,000 jobs would be created in the next few years in the manufacturing and service sectors and would require recruiting up to 300,000 guest workers, nearly triple the current number, from Central and Southeast Asia. The workers, most of whom would be at particular risk of trafficking because of the lack of access to information in their native language, deceptive employment practices, and lenient labor recruiting laws, would be ineligible for residence permits for three years. Public procurement law banned government agencies from contracting with any person or company convicted of trafficking crimes.

In response to the influx of refugees fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the government provided information in English, Hungarian, and Ukrainian at border crossings, shelters, major train stations, municipal governments, and online about trafficking risks and available support for victims. In 2023, the MOI and the OSCE hosted a workshop on human trafficking in the context of the war for professionals working on trafficking issues. The MOI also hosted a joint conference with UNHCR and an NGO on Ukrainian refugees and human trafficking for government and civil society representatives. Furthermore, the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing cooperated with national organizations with expertise in child protection to promote available helplines and assistance tools and posted information on its website about identifying potential victims among unaccompanied children and their rights to temporary protection. In 2023, authorities investigated a labor trafficking case involving a Ukrainian citizen and, separately, identified six Ukrainian victims. NGOs reported providing shelter to seven Ukrainian victims (one sex trafficking and six labor trafficking). Experts reported identifying signs of trafficking at the border where authorities processed Ukrainian refugees but inadequate measures to identify potential victims. The number of registered unaccompanied children remained remarkably low with the MOI detecting only 51 since Russia’s full-scale invasion started and reporting just four currently residing in Hungary. Experts noted the government had low standards for identifying unaccompanied children, such as inadequate checks of parental permission for youths traveling to Hungary as part of sports teams. Observers noted, despite notable public humanitarian efforts, the government’s focus was helping refugees move on to a third country rather than preparing them for long-term integration into Hungarian society with employment, education, and housing. Observers also noted the government relied heavily on several Hungarian humanitarian organizations but did not coordinate well with international organizations.

Media and international organizations alleged authorities indiscriminately and often violently deported asylum-seekers, and a report on protecting rights at borders criticized the government for violent pushbacks of refugees and migrants into Serbia. The European Court of Human Rights ruled automatic pushbacks of asylum-seekers carried out by the Hungarian authorities were in breach of the prohibition of collective expulsion enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. Similarly, the European Court of Justice declared the practice to be in violation of EU law. Furthermore, UNHCR “deplored” the government’s decision to extend the “state of emergency due to mass migration,” which authorized police to automatically remove third-country nationals intercepted for unlawfully entering and/or staying in Hungary; these individuals could be or could become trafficking victims because of their increased vulnerability. The government had renewed the “crisis situation caused by mass migration” every six months since 2015; most recently, the government declared a separate state of danger because of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Experts expressed concern the “crisis situation caused by mass migration” allowed the government to deny people already in the country and in need of international protection, access to asylum. Since 2020, the government required asylum-seekers to submit asylum requests through foreign embassies; requests required asylum-seekers to submit a statement of intent with answers to general questions. In 2023, the government included trafficking-specific questions aimed at identifying potential victims among asylum-seekers. Nonetheless, NGOs expressed concern the system restricted access to asylum and exacerbated the risks of trafficking among asylum-seekers.

As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Hungary, and traffickers exploit victims from Hungary abroad. Vulnerable groups include Hungarians in extreme poverty, undereducated young adults, single mothers, asylum-seekers, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ persons, children living in state-run institutions, persons experiencing homelessness, and Roma. Roma, the country’s largest ethnic minority, make up a significant proportion of those identified as trafficking victims. Traffickers typically operate in small groups based on common interests or familial ties and tend to recruit girls from their own families. Traffickers continued to use the “lover-boy” recruitment method through which they seduce girls to willingly leave their homes, gradually isolate them from society, and then, through different methods and forms of control, force them into sex trafficking. Traffickers increasingly use the Internet, social media, and instant messaging applications to recruit victims, post advertisements, and exploit children in sex trafficking. Children in government-run institutions, particularly girls, remain vulnerable to sex trafficking. Approximately 23,000 Hungarian children live in state-run childcare institutions, including 300 children younger than three years of age. Adolescent girls with mild intellectual disabilities and/or special needs, including dissocial behavior, psychoactive substance abuse, or psychiatric conditions, who are living in state-run institutions, are among the most vulnerable to sex trafficking. Traffickers exploit Hungarian women, boys, and girls in sex and labor trafficking inside the country and abroad, mostly in Europe, with main destination countries including Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK. Authorities have recently discerned a new pattern toward the Nordic region, particularly in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. In contrast to 2022, the majority of trafficking cases took place in country. Sex trafficking remains the most common form of trafficking in Hungary, but cases of labor trafficking have notably increased. Experts express concern authorities underreported labor trafficking, particularly incidences of domestic servitude in the country, which often affect persons experiencing homelessness, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. Traffickers subject Hungarians to labor trafficking in agriculture, construction, hospitality, and factories. Reports indicate an increase in the number of domestic labor trafficking victims 25 to 59 years old. NGOs report domestic labor trafficking remains a concern, particularly in rural areas, among Ukrainians and other third-country nationals who come to Hungary to assist with the country’s labor shortage. While seasonal workers are at risk for labor trafficking in the agriculture and construction sectors, the majority of victims are Hungarian citizens, particularly adult men exploited by family members and acquaintances in domestic servitude and agricultural work, such as cleaning, landscaping, and farming. Trafficking victims from Eastern European countries, as well as asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants, some of whom may be or may become trafficking victims, transit Hungary en route to Western Europe. Refugees, predominantly women and children, fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and arriving in Hungary, are highly vulnerable to trafficking. Reports indicate approximately 66,000 refugees remain in Hungary.