CCPR/C/118/D/2569/2015 care and schooling if they return. Nonetheless, the Committee also notes the State party’s submission that, when they were in Bulgaria, the authors managed to obtain medical care for their eldest daughter and the female author, although by alternative means; that no new information has been provided in the present communication on the health of N.A.K., and that she will be entitled, as a refugee, to receive the necessary medical treatment if she returns to Bulgaria. The Committee further notes that according to the Board, the authors were able to rent a flat in Sofia and that the general assumption is that persons granted refugee and protection status in Bulgaria have the same rights as Bulgarian nationals. The Committee further notes that the Board considered that the authors had sufficient resources to meet their needs in Bulgaria, thanks to the financial resources they had brought from the Syrian Arab Republic. 8.5 The Committee notes the consultation held by the State party with the Bulgarian authorities in 2014, which confirmed that the authors were granted refugee status and had valid residence permits in Bulgaria, and therefore did not risk refoulement to the Syrian Arab Republic. 8.6 The Committee observes that the material before it, as well as general information in the public domain on the situation of refugees and asylum seekers in Bulgaria, indicates that there may be a lack of available places in the reception facilities for asylum seekers and returnees and that they are often in poor sanitary conditions. It also notes that according to the information before it, returnees like the authors who have already been granted a form of protection and benefited from the reception facilities when they were in Bulgaria, are not entitled to accommodation in the camps for asylum seekers beyond a six-month period from protection status being granted. It further notes that although beneficiaries of protection are entitled to work and enjoy social rights in Bulgaria, its social system is in general insufficient to attend to all persons in need. The Committee, however, notes that the authors were not homeless before their departure from Bulgaria and did not live in destitution. The Committee further observes that, according to their statements made to the Refugee Appeals Board, the authors had access to medical treatment during their stay in Bulgaria. Likewise, the authors have not provided any information that would explain why they would not be able to find a job in Bulgaria or to seek the protection of the Bulgarian authorities in case of unemployment. In that context, the Committee notes that the authors have not substantiated their claim that they would face a real and personal risk of inhuman or degrading treatment if they returned to Bulgaria. Accordingly, the Committee considers that the mere fact that the authors may be possibly confronted with difficulties upon their return to Bulgaria does not in itself mean that they would be in a special situation of vulnerability and in a situation significantly different to many other families. 8.7 The Committee further considers that although the authors disagree with the decision of the State party’s authorities to return them to Bulgaria as their country of first asylum, they have failed to explain why that decision is manifestly unreasonable or arbitrary. Nor have they pointed out any procedural irregularities in the procedures before the Danish Immigration Service or the Refugee Appeals Board. Accordingly, the Committee cannot conclude that the removal of the authors to Bulgaria by the State party would constitute a violation of article 7 of the Covenant. 9. The Committee, acting under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol to the Covenant, is of the view that the authors’ removal to Bulgaria would not violate their rights under article 7 of the Covenant. The Committee, however, is confident that the State party will duly inform the Bulgarian authorities of the authors’ removal, in order for the authors and their children to be kept together and to be taken charge of in a manner adapted to their needs, especially taking into account the age of the children. 13

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents