A/HRC/44/42/Add.1 amendment of certain acts related to restrictions to the procedure carried out in the areas of border management. Based on these amendments, asylum applications from anyone who irregularly enters Hungary can only be submitted in the transit zones. 25. The relevant authority issued an interim decision designating the territory of the transit zones as “a place of accommodation” for asylum seekers. Consequently, all asylum applicants, including families with small children and unaccompanied and separated children of and above the age of 14, are obliged to stay in the transit zones for the entire duration of the asylum procedure until a final decision on their application is issued or, in the case of a Dublin transfer, until the decision becomes enforceable. B. Conditions at the transit zones 26. The Special Rapporteur visited both the Röszke and Tompa transit zones. He was given access to all sections of the transit zones and was able to hold private conversations with individuals housed there. On the day of his visit to the transit zones, he did not see any migrant approaching Hungary from the Serbian side of the border. Razor-wire fences surrounded not only the external perimeter of the entire transit zones but also each sector within the zones. There was also razor wire on the roofs of the living containers where unaccompanied asylum-seeking children between 14 and 18 years old, families with small children and pregnant women were accommodated. 27. At the time of the visit, there were approximately 280 individuals in the transit zones. Most of them were families who had been on their journey for years. Over 60 per cent of those in the transit zones were boys and girls, including infants, unaccompanied asylumseeking children and children with special needs. Many of them had lived in the transit zone for over a year. As of 31 December 2019, according to the Hungarian authorities, 361 individuals, including 197 children were held in the transit zones, the vast majority of them families with children. There were six single men, four single women and one unaccompanied child. Children confined in the transit zones had no access to formal education. Since September 2017, the Hungarian authorities have started providing basic educational and recreational activities for children in the transit zones. Those activities do not seem to be fully tailored to meet the needs of the children. 28. The Special Rapporteur observed that any movement of asylum seekers within the transit zones, whether to visit other sectors, to meet with their attorney or to visit the medical unit, was done under escort by armed security guards. Toddlers are normally escorted together with their parents. Although according to the relevant police rules and normal practice, the number of escorts normally equals the number of asylum seekers escorted, but must be at least two persons, in the case of escort outside the zones, one extra person is added. According to information gathered at one transit zone, one pregnant woman was reportedly escorted by a number of guards on her way to the hospital for a regular pregnancy check-up. Asylum seekers, including young children, were confined to their designated sectors and interaction between sectors was very limited. Visits to other sectors were generally allowed for up to one hour a day, upon request, but visits could exceed one hour when social programmes were taking place. 29. While the general hygiene conditions of the transit zones seemed to be satisfactory, the Special Rapporteur was concerned about the lack of appropriate medical and psychological care and treatment. Based on the information collected during his visit, a doctor was present in the transit zones for only a few hours a day and there was no gynaecologist or paediatrician, while a large percentage of the asylum seekers in the transit zones were women and children. Visits to gynaecologists needed to be arranged upon request. Although a paediatrician visited both transit zones twice a week and a maternity nurse once a week, not all asylum seekers in the transit zones were aware of this. Asylum seekers, including women and children, with serious chronic diseases and cancer remained untreated for months. According to the information gathered, when they managed to consult a doctor, the consultation was often conducted without interpretation. Many asylum seekers reported difficulties in communicating with the doctor. There were other cases where the doctor simply failed to provide a diagnosis. Access to a specialist or a hospital check-up was limited. Those who received treatment at local hospitals shared their experience with the Special Rapporteur. One example concerned an asylum-seeking woman who had had an operation at the local hospital, where she was handcuffed to the bed for 7