CCPR/C/116/D/2409/2014 Consideration of the merits 7.1 The Committee has considered the communication in the light of all the information made available to it by the parties, as provided for under article 5 (1) of the Optional Protocol. 7.2 The Committee notes the authors’ claim that deporting them and their two minor children to Italy on the basis of the Dublin Regulation principle of “first country of asylum” would expose them to the risk of irreparable harm, in violation of article 7 of the Covenant. The authors base their arguments on, inter alia, the actual treatment they received after they were granted residence permits in Italy and on the general conditions of reception for asylum seekers and refugees entering Italy, as found in various reports. 7.3 The Committee recalls its general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant, in which it refers to the obligation of States parties not to extradite, deport, expel or otherwise remove a person from their territory, where there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of irreparable harm, such as that contemplated by article 7 of the Covenant, which prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Committee has also indicated that the risk must be personal and that the threshold for providing substantial grounds to establish that a real risk of irreparable harm exists is high. 21 The Committee further recalls its jurisprudence that considerable weight should be given to the assessment conducted by the State party, and that it is generally for the organs of the States parties to the Covenant to review and evaluate facts and evidence in order to determine whether such risk exists, 22 unless it is found that the evaluation was clearly arbitrary or amounted to a denial of justice.23 7.4 The Committee notes that the authors, according to their own uncontested submissions, lived in a reception centre between June 2011 and January 2012, when they were asked to leave, without being provided with alternative accommodation, with their son born on 21 December 2011. Subsequently, they lived in the streets and in railway stations, and were dependent on food provided by churches. They were thus left without shelter and means of subsistence. The Committee also notes the authors’ submissions that their newborn son did not receive the medical attention he needed at birth, despite the requests made to the competent authorities. Out of fear that they would be unable to provide for their child and find a humanitarian solution to their situation, the authors left Italy and went to Denmark, where they requested asylum in June 2012. The authors, asylum seekers with two minor children,24 now find themselves in a situation of great vulnerability. 7.5 The Committee takes note of the various reports submitted by the authors highlighting the lack of available places in the reception facilities in Italy for asylum seekers and returnees under the Dublin Regulation. The Committee notes, in particular, the authors’ submission that returnees who have already been granted a form of protection and who have benefited from the reception facilities while in Italy are, like themselves, in fact not entitled to accommodation in the centres for asylum seekers. 25 7.6 The Committee notes the finding of the Refugee Appeals Board that Italy should be considered the first country of asylum in the present case and the position of the State party 21 22 23 24 25 8 See communications No. 2007/2010, X v. Denmark, Views adopted on 26 March 2014, para. 9.2; No. 692/1996, A.R.J. v. Australia, Views adopted on 28 July 1997, para. 6.6; and No. 1833/2008, X v. Sweden, Views adopted on 1 November 2011, para. 5.18. See communication No. 1957/2010, Lin v. Australia, Views adopted on 21 March 2013, para. 9.3. See, inter alia, communications No. 541/1993, Errol Simms v. Jamaica, inadmissibility decision adopted on 3 April 1995, para. 6.2; and No. 1957/2010, Lin v. Australia, Views adopted on 21 March 2013, para. 9.3. See para. 2.5. See www.asylumineurope.org/sites/default/files/report-download/aida_italy_thirdupdate_final_0.pdf. GE.16-10042