CCPR/C/121/D/2585/2015 that the circumstance that the authors may not have access to an effective integration programme in Bulgaria cannot lead to the conclusion that Bulgaria cannot be their first country of asylum. 4.7 With respect to the authors’ reference to a Human Rights Watch report, the State party indicates that even if the report indicates that Bulgarian authorities have discontinued the payment of a monthly allowance once asylum seekers are granted residence, it also indicates that conditions in the reception centres have improved and that many residents are allowed to remain in such centres for longer periods of time after they are granted refugee or humanitarian status if they lack the means to support themselves. 27 In addition, the State party refers to available background material according to which the quality of the accommodation provided to asylum seekers and protection status holders after leaving the asylum centres depends on their employment and income, but also on their family status. It submits that, in general, families with young children benefit from a more positive attitude on the part of landlords. 28 The State party points out that no cases have been recorded of families being forced to leave asylum centres without having been provided with accommodation or funds to rent lodgings. 29 4.8 As to the authors’ allegations that they would not have access to health care in Bulgaria, the State party indicates that refugees have access to health-care services under the same conditions as Bulgarian nationals and that the medical treatment is free if they are registered with a general practitioner. 30 The State party therefore considers that it is a fact based on available background information that the authors will have access to the necessary health-care services and treatment in Bulgaria. 4.9 In relation to the authors’ claim that their children would not have access to education if returned to Bulgaria, the State party indicates that asylum seekers less than 18 years old have access to free education31 in the same conditions as Bulgarian nationals, after successfully completing a language course. 32 4.10 With respect to the authors’ statement that they would risk racist attacks in Bulgaria, the State party submits that they can request protection from the national authorities, which have already taken measures against such incidents. The State party refers to a report by UNHCR indicating that in February 2014, following an attack on a mosque, the Bulgarian authorities arrested 120 people, thereby indicating that the authorities have addressed and condemned racist attacks and rhetoric.33 4.11 Regarding the authors’ allegation that, if deported to Bulgaria, they will not have access to accommodation and will probably have to live on the streets with no access to a minimum living standard, the State party refers to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Samsam Mohammed Hussein and Others v. the Netherlands and Italy.34 In that ruling, the Court stated that the assessment of a possible violation of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights must be rigorous and should analyse the conditions in the receiving country against the standard established by that provision of the Convention. The Court also reiterated that the mere return to a country where one’s economic position will be worse than in the expelling State party is not sufficient to meet the threshold of ill-treatment proscribed by article 3. It stated that article 3 cannot be interpreted as obliging the States parties to provide everyone within their jurisdiction with a home, and that it does not entail any general obligation to give refugees financial assistance 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 8 Containment Plan: Bulgaria’s Pushbacks and Detention of Syrian and Other Asylum Seekers and Migrants. UNHCR, Where is my home?, p. 6. Ibid. UNHCR Observations on the Current Situation of Asylum in Bulgaria p. 12; Hristova, Trapped in Europe’s Quagmire, p. 16; and Vankova, Monitoring Report, p. 51. Report of the Danish Refugee Council. UNHCR Observations on the Current Situation of Asylum in Bulgaria, p. 12. Ibid., p. 14. Application No. 27725/10, judgment of 2 April 2013.