ECtHR Communicated cases against Greece, Sweden and Bulgaria

Date: 
Tuesday, December 11, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights has recently communicated four asylum-related cases:

  • D.K. against Greece (application no. 52395/14): This case concerns the detention of the applicant in the Corinth detention centre for approximately 16 months and in the Amygdaleza detention centre for approximately 1 month. Upon release from detention he was granted refugee status. The applicant complains that the conditions in both detention centres are incompatible with Article 3 of the Convention.
     
  • S.S. against Sweden (application no. 43654/18): The application concerns the deportation to Afghanistan of an Afghan woman whose asylum application has been rejected. The applicant complains she would face a risk of being subjected to treatment in breach of Article 3 of the Convention if the deportation order were enforced, particularly on account of the situation in Afghanistan for women who lack the support of a male network and for women who are considered to have transgressed social or moral norms. She further complains that she would face a real risk of a violation of Article 9 if the deportation order were enforced.
     
  • K.S. against Sweden (application no. 31827/18): The applicant is an Iraqi national, who has had his asylum request in Sweden rejected and his deportation to Iraq ordered. He complains that due to his advanced dementia and the prevailing security situation in Baghdad, including his lack of supportive network, his deportation to Iraq would expose him to a real risk of being subjected to treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention. He further complains that his deportation would violate his right to family life as guaranteed by Article 8 of the Convention, since it would separate him from his children in Sweden, on whom he is dependent.
     
  • S.A. against Bulgaria (application no. 46517/18): The case concerns an Afghan national who is currently detained in Sofia, Bulgaria. The applicant was initially granted humanitarian status by Bulgaria in 2004, but decided to return to Afghanistan in 2013 under a programme run by the International Organisation for Migration. He asked for termination of his humanitarian status, which was completed in 2014. Following difficulties in Afghanistan due to his conversion to Christianity he fled again to Bulgaria, where he tried to apply for humanitarian protection. The Agency rejected his application without examining the specific documents he had submitted, dismissing them as generally known information. The applicant complains under Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention that there is a real and significant risk of his life being endangered or of him being subjected to ill-treatment if removed to Afghanistan, and under Article 13, that he did not have access to an effective domestic remedy, as none of his applications for international protection had been examined on the merits with the related procedural guarantees, including the suspension of his removal.

This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the weekly ELENA legal update. The purpose of these updates is to inform asylum lawyers and legal organizations supporting asylum seekers and refugees of recent developments in the field of asylum law. Please note that the information provided is taken from publicly available information on the internet. Every reasonable effort is made to make the content accurate and up to date at the time each item is published but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE. 

                                                     

 

Keywords: 
Detention
Effective access to procedures
Effective remedy (right to)
Family member
Family unity (right to)
Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Membership of a particular social group
Right to remain pending a decision (Suspensive effect)
Vulnerable person