The United Nations’ humanitarian agency has sounded the alarm over reports that Hungary’s far-right government is starving rejected asylum seekers of food for up to five days at a time.

The Hungarian authorities had promised to end the deliberate deprivation of food after an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights, but according to the UN, “reports suggest the practice is continuing”.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights, said the policy was a breach of international law.

The Hungarian authorities immediately detain migrants and asylum seekers without the right to stay in the country in so-called transit zones. Asylum seekers subject to expulsion orders are deprived of food while the procedure is being carried out – despite the fact that the process can take up to five days, the UN said.

The spokesperson said the migrants are “deliberately deprived of food, which can lead to malnutrition and is both detrimental to their health and inherently inhumane”. Exceptions are reportedly made for pregnant and nursing women.

“We are alarmed by reports that migrants in detention centres in Hungary have been deliberately deprived of food in contravention of international laws and standards,” the spokesperson said.

Since August 2018, at least 21 migrants awaiting deportation had been deprived of food in this manner, according to the UN.

The Hungarian government says it does not consider some of the migrants to be detained as they can leave voluntary. But the UN says such returns would be involuntary if forced to do so by being subject to inhumane conditions.

Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, has gained popularity on the back of a strongly anti-migrant stance, which has drawn accusations of Islamophobia and antisemitism.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban (Reuters)

In a speech on Thursday he said his government had “proved that it’s not true that migration can’t be stopped” and said “we have to protect Europe’s borders against the migration invasion”.

The spokesperson for the UN human rights agency said: “The UN human rights office reminds states that they have an obligation and heightened duty of care towards migrants who are deprived of their liberty, including through the provision of food. The deliberate deprivation of food is prohibited under the Mandela Rules, and violates the rights to food and to health, as well as the prohibition of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

“We encourage Hungary to ensure it fulfils its human rights obligations towards those deprived of liberty, regardless of whether they are in transit zones or any other place where migrants are detained and cannot provide for themselves.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. 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Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. 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Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

“We reiterate the right of all migrants to seek asylum, as well as the fundamental human rights principle of ‘non-refoulement’, which prohibits the return of any person to a situation where they would face a real and foreseeable risk of persecution, death, torture, and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment, or other irreparable harm.”

Sophie in ’t Veld, a liberal MEP who is rapporteur on the recently reviewed EU Reception Conditions Directive, told The Independent: “Hungary’s treatment of asylum seekers, many of whom are fleeing war or persecution, shames Europe and represents an attack on basic international asylum standards and human decency.

“Time and again the far right undermine European values, the EU must challenge this grotesque behaviour.