The case concerns a family from Iraq (7 children) who submitted asylum applications on December 18th 2017. The asylum authority based on the Dublin Regulation [Article 25(2)] determined that Bulgaria shall be responsible to conduct the asylum procedure. The applicants requested a review of the decision before a national court where they also contested the accommodation order of the authority. The applicants claimed that for the mental health of their children it is best if they were accommodated in an open campground (instead of the transit zone) and have access to a doctor. The court annulled the decisions and ordered the asylum authority to repeat its procedure considering that the applicants’ three month long stay in Serbia proved to be true. The court also reinstated that an applicant may only reside in the transit zone for a period of four weeks based on the asylum procedures directive [Article 43(2)]. The court expressly ordered the asylum authority to provide the applicants appropriate accommodation which does not result in the deprivation of their liberty and does not violate the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment. The court explicitly excluded the transit zone for accommodation. In its decision the court took into consideration that the applicants’ submitted their asylum applications with their minor children (the youngest of which was only 4 years of age) (see p. 8. of the decision).
Source: PDF with the case
