CCPR/C/120/D/2640/2015
Thus, over 90 per cent of the registered refugee children were not enrolled in the municipal
school system. The bureaucratic administration and the difficulties of enrolment in the
mandatory language course constitute a de facto violation of the children’s right to
education, say the authors.
5.8
The authors reiterate that the Committee’s Views in Jasin et al. v. Denmark are
relevant in their situation. As in that case, it was wrong of the State party to assume that, as
holders of valid residence permits in Bulgaria, the authors would benefit from their
theoretical rights and social benefits. It is up to the State party to undertake an
individualized assessment on the actual risk faced in case of deportation. As such, there
were procedural defects in the Refugee Appeals Board’s assessment, which is why the
authors have resorted to the Committee.
State party’s additional observations
6.1
On 4 November 2016, the State party provided additional observations, generally
referring to its observations of 8 February 2015. It reiterates that the Refugee Appeals
Board made a full and thorough assessment of all the circumstances of the case, including
an assessment of the information in the case at hand, in conjunction with the information on
conditions in the country of first asylum. It asserts that the authors have not established that
the assessment made by the Refugee Appeals Board is clearly arbitrary or manifestly illfounded.
6.2
According to the State party, the various cases cited by the authors in which the
Board determined that Bulgaria could not serve as the country of first asylum do not reflect
arbitrariness, but rather the fact that the Board makes a specific and individual assessment
in each individual case. The finding made by the Board in the case at hand, that Bulgaria
can serve as the authors’ country of first asylum, was thus based on a specific assessment of
the circumstances in this case.
6.3
The State party refers to the Committee’s jurisprudence 27 and distinguishes the
present case from that of Jasin et al. v. Denmark, previously considered by the Committee,
which concerned the deportation of a single mother who suffered from asthma, required
medication and had three minor children, and whose residence permit for Italy had expired.
The State party stresses that the case at hand concerns the deportation of a married couple
with four children, two of whom are adults; that none of the family members suffers from
any diseases requiring medical treatment; and that all family members have been granted
residence permits in Bulgaria. The State party further notes that the authors have failed to
specify any irregularity in domestic decision-making by the Bulgarian authorities, and
refers to the case of A.A.I. and A.H.A. v. Denmark (communication No. 2402/2014, Views
adopted by the Committee on 29 March 2016), in which the Committee found that it was
not contrary to article 7 of the Covenant to deport a married couple and their two minor
children to Italy, where they had all previously been issued with residence permits.
According to the State party, the same reasoning should apply in the case at hand.
6.4
As for the background information referred to by the authors, the State party notes
that the same information was included in the other background material on Bulgaria
available to the Refugee Appeals Board, and was thus also taken into account in the
Board’s assessment of the authors’ case.
Issues and proceedings before the Committee
Consideration of admissibility
7.1
Before considering any claim contained in a communication, the Human Rights
Committee must decide, in accordance with rule 93 of its rules of procedure, whether or not
the communication is admissible under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.
27
10
The State party further refers to the individual dissenting opinion of Committee members Yuval
Shany, Konstantine Vardzelashvili and Sir Nigel Rodley in the case of Abdilafir Abubakar Ali and
Mayul Ali Mohamad v. Denmark (communication No. 2409/2014, Views adopted on 29 March 2016).