Budapest – A successful family reunification was conducted last June with the assistance of IOM.

Dawit from Ethiopia, was excitedly waiting for the arrival of his family: his wife, sister and brother at Budapest Airport whom he hasn’t seen for three years.

Dawit has been living in Hungary for years now and received international protection. He has a secure job to provide for the family and also a home. They applied for family reunification in December 2016, when Dawit’s family members had to travel all the way to Kenya’s capital Nairobi to the closest Hungarian Embassy and submit their application there.

It took 14 months to undertake all necessary procedures, but eventually their claim was approved by the Hungarian Authorities and Dawit’s family could travel to Hungary and reunite with him.

The travel from Ethiopia to Hungary took place within the framework of IOM Budapest’s family reunification project, which was co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund of the European Union and by the Hungarian Ministry of Interior. IOM organized the family’s flight bookings, tickets and “fit-to-travel” medical exams and also provided assistance at the airports while transiting and at arrival in Budapest. In Hungary, Dawit was represented in front of the Hungarian Authorities by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee throughout the case.

***Names in the story are changed for protection reasons