CCPR/C/120/D/2640/2015 discontinuance. UNHCR also expressed concern in this respect, stating that, in the absence of a solid strategy and sustainable programme to ensure access to livelihoods, affordable housing, language tuition and effective access to formal education for children, beneficiaries of international protection might not have effective access to self-reliance opportunities, and thus might be at risk of poverty and homelessness. 9 Amnesty International echoed this concern, stating that recognized refugees faced problems in accessing education, housing, health care and other public services.10 3.7 The authors further fear that they will be attacked by xenophobic groups. Such groups are common in Bulgaria and remain unaddressed by the State authorities, which cannot protect asylum seekers against attacks. The number of attacks has recently increased. In a September 2014 report, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance expressed concern about hate speech with respect to refugees in Bulgaria, noting that racist and intolerant speech in political discourse was escalating, and that the authorities rarely voiced any counter-hate speech message to the public.11 On 11 March 2014, the European Court of Human Rights ruled, in Abdu v. Bulgaria (application No. 26827/08) that the Bulgarian authorities had failed to properly investigate the potentially racist nature of an attack on a Sudanese national. The authors assert that the family would therefore not feel safe in Bulgaria and would face destitution, tantamount to inhumane and degrading treatment contrary to the best interests of the children. 3.8 The authors refer to the decision by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Tarakhel v. Switzerland (application No. 29217/12), which highlighted the special vulnerability of asylum-seeking children, even when they were accompanied by their parents. The authors also refer to the Committee’s findings under article 7 of the Covenant in the case of Jasin et al. v. Denmark (communication No. 2360/2014, Views adopted on 22 July 2015). They conclude that, as a family unit with young children, they are particularly vulnerable to inhumane and degrading treatment in Bulgaria. They add that the risk faced in the case of their return is personal and irreparable, judging from the background information available and the previous experience of the family in Bulgaria. 3.9 According to the authors, even though there is no uniform definition of conditions which would fall within the category of inhumane or degrading treatment, the European Court of Human Rights, in its decision on M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece (application No. 30696/09), has determined that the state of extreme poverty of the applicant, who had lived in a park in Athens for months without access to food or sanitation, amounted to degrading treatment under article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the authors, while the facts differ in the case at hand, the latter case supports the finding that homelessness and extreme poverty can amount to inhumane and degrading treatment. The authors were asked to leave the asylum centre, and felt compelled to flee Bulgaria, with no alternative considering the extremely hard living conditions to which recognized refugees were exposed. 3.10 The authors reiterate that there is no reintegration programme for refugees in Bulgaria, who thus face serious poverty, homelessness and limited access to health care, education and employment. They add that, based on their personal experience and their vulnerability as the parents of two minor children, and in the light of the above background information, there is a real risk that they will be exposed to treatment amounting to illtreatment in breach of article 7 of the Covenant. State party’s observations on admissibility and the merits 4.1 On 8 February 2016, the State party submitted that the communication should be considered inadmissible or, alternatively, devoid of merit. The State party recalls that the authors entered Denmark in January 2015 without valid travel documents. Ra.R.H., the authors’ adult son born on 3 April 1995, entered Denmark on 3 February 2015 without 9 10 11 4 UNHCR, Bulgaria as a Country of Asylum, p. 16. Amnesty International, Amnesty International report 2014-15, Bulgaria, 25 February 2015. Available from www.refworld.org/docid/54f07e10c.html. European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, ECRI Report on Bulgaria (Fifth Monitoring Cycle) (Strasbourg, 16 September 2014), p. 9.