Introduction

Since the democratic changes in 1989, many political, legal, economic and social changes have taken place in Hungary, a process which has increased at pace since the country joined the European Union in 2004. There has been no significant change, however, in the number of people with mental disabilities^[1] segregated in institutions, despite Hungary’s formal commitment to address this situation in 2007 when the government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).

Mass institutionalisation in large and rural institutions continues to be the predominant form of care and service delivery for people with mental health issues, and people with intellectual disabilities. The result is that large numbers of people in Hungary with mental disabilities are segregated from society, stripped of the most basic rights to decide how to live their lives and are at risk of a higher incidence of violence and abuse.^[2] Freedom is restricted through guardianship which removes people’s rights to make legally valid and enforceable decisions about their lives. As a result, their views of people with mental disabilities about where and with whom to live are ignored, as are decisions about when to get up, what to eat for breakfast, when to go out or what form of care or services they wish to use.

A human rights approach requires something different. Instead of placing people with disabilities in institutions, governments must instead take practical steps to include people in our – in their – societies. The right to live in the community is not a policy nicety: it is a human right. The Hungarian government is obliged to provide services to enable people with disabilities to live in the community following ratification of the CRPD.

Even before the CRPD existed, the Hungarian government voluntarily committed itself to moving people with disabilities out of institutions and into the community through adoption of Act XXVI of 1998 on the Rights and Equal Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities. At that time, the government set 1 January 2010 as the deadline for completing the process.^[3] Later, the government modified the deadline to 31 December 2013. Yet despite these formal commitments, little action has been taken.^[4]

In 2011, the government adopted a deinstitutionalisation strategy introducing various forms of ‘protected housing’, ostensibly with the purpose of showing progress in the area of community living. The strategy has yet to deliver any significant progress. Only a small number of people have moved out of large institutions into smaller ‘group homes’ or ‘living centres’. Even these new models continue to reflect an institutional model of congregate housing as opposed to real inclusion in the community. The small number of people who have been moved into ‘protected housing’ are still denied the right to choose who they live with, instead being lumped together in albeit more aesthetically pleasing mini-institutions.

The lack of political will is perceptible. At present, the Hungarian government is failing to take concrete steps to implement the right to community living for the vast majority of Hungarians with mental disabilities. The level of investment into community-based services, which are vital in securing inclusion, is actually decreasing each year, whilst large sums continue to be invested in institutions. Unfortunately the Hungarian government has even chosen to spend European Union funding on maintaining institutions, rather than developing community-based services.

Prejudice and discrimination against people with mental disabilities are widespread, with stereotypes and misconceptions being deeply rooted in popular consciousness – a situation that was vividly illustrated during the deinstitutionalisation tender process. Residents of Bélapátfalva and Szilvásvárad towns publicly expressed their repugnance against accepting people with intellectual disabilities as their neighbours.^[5]  A vicious cycle of discrimination feeds an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach to people with mental disabilities, an approach which requires urgent change.

This briefing focuses on what the Hungarian government should have done, and still must do. It focuses on Article 19 of the CRPD, the provision which sets out the right to independent living in the community for everyone with disabilities, including people with intellectual disabilities and people with mental health issues. The briefing analyses Hungary’s compliance through the lens of indicators drawn from Article 19 of the CRPD.

The intention of the briefing is to provide civil society with evidence of the gap between what the government should be doing, and the lived reality of people with mental disabilities in Hungary. On nearly every indicator the government has so far failed to take adequate or sufficient steps to guarantee the inclusion of people with mental disabilities in their communities. It is hoped that the present analysis serves as a useful basis for monitoring progress, and holding the Hungarian government to account for its obligations towards people with mental disabilities in the country.

Acknowledgments

MDAC is grateful to Andrea Spitálszky, former Legal Officer of MDAC, for undertaking desk research which made this publication possible. Barbara Méhes, MDAC Legal Officer, lead on the research and drafting of the briefing. The content was guided and edited by Steven Allen, MDAC Advocacy and Communications Director, and
Oliver Lewis, MDAC Executive Director.