CCPR/C/121/D/2585/2015 Syrian Arab Republic. M.A.S. suffers from high blood pressure and a heart condition, for which he receives medical treatment, and he also exhibits symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, allegedly due to torture to which he was subjected while in prison in the Syrian Arab Republic. L.B.H. has problems with her metabolism, for which she receives medical treatment, and also receives analgesics to alleviate back problems due to a herniated disc.5 2.8 On 8 December 2014, the Danish Refugee Appeals Board upheld the decision of the Danish Immigration Service and ordered the authors to leave Denmark within 15 days. The Board considered that while the authors fell under section 7 (1) of the Aliens Act, Bulgaria was their first country of asylum where they had been granted protection status, and they should therefore be returned there.6 The Board declared that according to the background information available, the authors would not be exposed to a risk of refoulement once in Bulgaria; that their personal safety would be protected to the extent necessary; and that they should seek the protection of the Bulgarian authorities in respect of the threats made by unknown Bulgarians against them. The Board also indicated that according to a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),7 refugees and persons with protected status in Bulgaria enjoyed the same rights as Bulgarian nationals and that, although difficult, the general situation, including socioeconomic conditions, were not of such a nature as to prevent Bulgaria from serving as a first country of asylum. In rendering its decision, the Board took into account the authors’ allegations that they had been detained and ill-treated in prison. In particular, it noted that the authorities had confiscated L.B.H.’s medication; that they had not provided milk for the applicants’ youngest child; that M.A.S. had been harassed by private individuals; that their children had all been seriously mentally affected by their experiences in the Syrian Arab Republic and Bulgaria; and that only after arriving in Denmark had they started to feel better. The children were able to go to school, whereas in Bulgaria, where there was nothing but fear and fights, they were afraid to go anywhere. The complaint 3.1 The authors submit that, by forcibly returning them and their children to Bulgaria, the Danish authorities would violate their rights under article 7 of the Covenant. Based on their experience, they allege that if returned to Bulgaria, they and their three children would be exposed to inhuman or degrading treatment contrary to the best interests of the child, as they would face homelessness, destitution, and no access to health care and personal safety. The three minor children have already been deeply scarred and traumatized by the civil war in the Syrian Arab Republic and by their stay in Bulgaria, displaying antisocial behaviour and stagnation in their development. They therefore need stability and access to continued psychosocial and medical treatment. The authors therefore argue that they should be regarded as extremely vulnerable and that the first country of asylum, Bulgaria, is not adapted to their needs. 3.2 The authors further allege that Bulgaria does not have any integration programme for asylum seekers or refugees. The last national integration programme ended in 2013, and there is currently no effective integration programme for persons who are granted refugee status or subsidiary protection in Bulgaria. 8 Although according to national law these persons have access to the labour market, health-care system, social services and assistance 5 6 7 8 4 Statements of 18 December 2014 and 18 January 2015 by Solvita, an organization that works with traumatized children, youth and adults in Denmark. However, in the latter statement, Solvita concluded, inter alia, that “the parents are not psychologically elucidated of a [post-traumatic stress disorder] diagnosis, but both have symptoms of it”. The Board also referred to section 7 (3) of the Aliens Act. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Refugee Integration and the Use of Indicators: Evidence from Central Europe, December 2013, available from www.refworld.org/docid/532164584.html. Tsvelina Hristova and others, Trapped in Europe’s Quagmire: The Situation of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Bulgaria (Munich, bordermonitoring.eu e.V., 2014), available from http://bordermonitoring.eu/wp-content/uploads/reports/bm.eu-2014-bulgaria.en.pdf.