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Countries Archives: Bulgaria

Case No. 1464/2021 before the Sofia City Administrative Court, Judgment No. 4182 of 24 June 2021

The Court concluded that a child born in Bulgaria, who is fully integrated in the community cannot be returned to his country of origin together with his mother, where he will be at risk of being persecuted under Article 9, para 1 in relation to para 2, item f of Directive 2011/95/EU. Even if there is no well-founded fear of persecution for the mother, the national authorities should not allow such a risk to be inflicted on the child. As the mother is the only caregiver to the child, there is a ground for granting her international protection due to the need to preserve the family unity.

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Case No. 8941/2019 before the Supreme Administrative Court of the Republic of Bulgaria, Judgment No. 1277 of 27 January 2020

The administrative body had discussed only the mother’s refugee story, without providing reasoning for its decision to refuse status to her children. The Court concludes that the administrative body did not respect and protect the best interests of the children: failing to consider the individual circumstances of the children is a significant violation of the administrative procedural rules.

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Case No. 745/2016 before District Court of Ihtiman, Judgment No. 15 of 01 February 2017

In the case of an unaccompanied child registered as an asylum seeker, the court stated that the Bulgarian legislation is applicable to all children residing in the country and in this sense, since the child was at risk, appropriate protection measures under the Law on Child Protection should be taken. The court took into consideration that currently there is no other option to protect the child and that there is real danger for his life and health because of the absence of parental care and supervision. Therefore, in respect of his right to proper physical, emotional and intellectual development, the court placed the child into the mainstream child protection services.

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Case No. 10794/2016 before the Sofia City Administrative Court, Judgment No. 8426 of 30 December 2016

The asylum authorities had detained an unaccompanied asylum seeking child on the ground that it was in the interest of his own safety as he had taken part in fights with other asylum seekers at the reception centre. However, the court repealed the detention order highlighting that detention should be a measure of last resort. The court noted that the child had not been heard during the administrative procedure and neither his legal representative, nor a social worker had taken part in the procedure.

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