The applicant, Mr. Muneer, is an Afghan national who arrived in Belgium in 2009 and applied for asylum. As it appeared that he had been in Greece previously, Belgium arranged for his return under the Dublin regulation. Mr. Muneer was ordered to quit the Belgian territory and placed in a detention centre. His return to Greece was organised, but after he refused to board the plane, a second detention order valid for two months was issued.
The report presents the various requirements in EU and national law and policy 'aiming at securing border crossings of children, safeguarding their rights as well as fighting against abduction and trafficking', and makes recommendations. It expresses support for the implementation of the 'one person-one passport' requirement, as replacing the 'family passport'. The Commission does not endorse a proposed requirement that the names of the child's legal guardian(s) be included in the child's passport.
The applicant is an Iranian national who applied for asylum in Turkey in 2004. Pending a decision on his application, he was granted a temporary residence permit. In 2007 he was convicted of a drugs offence and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. Following his release in December 2008, he was placed in a foreigners' removal centre from which he only was released when he was granted refugee status in The Netherlands and moved there in April 2010.
During its plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted in first reading the proposals for decisions of the Parliament and the Council with a view to increasing the co-financing rate of the European Refugee Fund, the European Return Fund and the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals. This proposal aims at increasing the co-financing rate for certain Member States experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability.
The applicants, Nam Singh, Meena Kaur and their three children are Afghan nationals who reside in Sint-Gillis (Belgium). The applicants arrived in Belgium in March 2011 on a flight from Moscow. As they did not have the legally required documents, they were refused entry into Belgium and the Aliens Office issued directions for their removal. The applicants, at the same time, applied for asylum.
UNHCR Central Europe has released three reports documenting the housing situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The reports were sponsored by UNHCR and the research was carried out by independent experts. The reports reveal that asylum seekers and refugees often find themselves in situations of destitution and homelessness in these three countries owing to obstacles such as shortage of housing facilities, lack of access to the labour market or excessively high rents.
The applicant is a Russian national who lives in Chechnya. In October 2009, her son was detained by the police and he has not been seen ever since. Before the Court, the applicant contended under Article 2 that her son had been killed by Russian servicemen and that the authorities had failed to investigate his disappearance. She also complained of a violation of Article 3 owing to the suffering caused to her by the disappearance of her son, of a violation of Article 5 in relation to his detention and of a violation of Article 13.
The Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly agreed this week that the draft Protocol no. 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights could be adopted and opened for signature and ratification as presently drafted. The main features of this Protocol, which amends the Convention, are the following:
-The introduction, in the Preamble of the Convention, of a reference to the principle of subsidiarity and the doctrine of the margin of appreciation as developed in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.
The European Commission published recently a paper that gives an overview of the rights of victims of trafficking in human beings based on EU law, which should also help Member States develop a similar overviews at national level. The paper is accessible at the website of DG Home.
(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Common European Asylum System - Directive 2004/83/EC - Minimum standards for qualification for refugee status or subsidiary protection status - Article 4(1), second sentence - Cooperation of the Member State with the applicant to assess the relevant elements of his application - Scope - Lawfulness of the national procedure for processing an application for subsidiary protection following rejection of an application for refugee status - Observance of fundamental rights - Right to be heard)
