35 | PROTECTING STATELESS PERSONS FROM ARBITRARY DETENTION IN BULGARIA 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Judgment No.53 of 21 April 2015 relating to case No. 101/2015, the Administrative Court of Dobrich Judgment of 18 March 2014 in case No.327/2014 of the Sofia City Administrative Court, available online at http://85.91.141.110/BCAP/ADMC/WebData.nsf/ActsByCaseNo/ BF502817DD836FD7C2257CA0004B20F1/$FILE/temp4171764 462962965796A5646D0D5636C2257CA0003FCA98.pdf (last visited on 15 June 2016); Judgment No.53 of 21 April 2015 in case No. 101/2015 the Administrative Court of Dobrich In Bulgarian the name of the law is: Закон за нормативните актове Judgment No.8269 of 21 December 2013 in case No.6735/2013 before the Sofia City Administrative Court, available online at http://85.91.141.110/BCAP/ADMC/WebData.nsf/ActsByCaseNo/ 29C3562C52FDC7FDC2257C4E00448528/$FILE/temp4163559 32060185889DDDFDDB24DE1EC2257C4E0032A37F.pdf (last visited on 15 June 2016) Interview on 19 April 2016 with experts Mr. Agopov and Mrs. Stoyanova from the Commission for Protection against Discrimination (in Bulgarian: Комисия за защита от дискриминация) During the interview with the expert from the Ombudsman’s office, Mrs. Svilena Ignatova, on 28 April 2016, she pointed out that this legal provision was introduced in national law in 2011 following the intervention by the Ombudsman in the case of a stateless person of Armenian origin, whose situation is described in the 2009 and 2010 Annual Reports of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria. In Bulgarian the name of the law is: Закон за чужденците в Република България According to the Ministry of Interior data, 98 persons with ‘unknown citizenship’ have received permanent residence permits in Bulgaria in the period from 2007 until 31 May 2016. (Source: Decision No.212164-54 of 21 June 2016 to provide access to public information, Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria.) Cases No.1347/2012, 6/2013, 7/2013, 7720/2013 before the Sofia City Administrative Court In Bulgarian the name of the law is: Закон за българските лични документи In Bulgarian: “удостоверение за пътуване зад граница на лице без гражданство” Law on Bulgarian Citizenship, article 59.1.8 The official registration number of the Draft Law is 602-0123/28.04.2016. Updates on the progress of its readings in the Bulgarian Parliament are available on the following link: http://www.parliament.bg/bg/bills/ID/42119/ (last visited on 15 June 2016). European Court of Human Rights, Judgment on the Case of Auad v. Bulgaria (Application no. 46390/10), 11 October 2011, Strasbourg, available online at http://www.asylumlawdatabase.eu/en/content/ecthr-auad-vbulgaria-application-no-4639010 (Last visited on 17 June 2016) Article 3 of the ECHR prohibits torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, Article 5 of the ECHR is the right to liberty and Article 13 of the ECHR provides the right to an effective remedy. Amie and Others v Bulgaria [2013] Application no 58149/08 (EctHR), paragraph 133, available online at http://www.asylumlawdatabase.eu/en/content/ecthr-auad-vbulgaria-application-no-4639010 (Last visited on 17 June 2016) Ibid., paragraph 139 Ibid. For an analysis of the case, see Ferschtman, Maxim, Detention of a Stateless Refugee, 12 September 2013, accessed on 18 June 2016 at http://www.statelessness.eu/blog/detention-stateless-refugee See, e.g., Ilareva, Valeria, Immigration Detention in International Law and Practice (In search of solutions to the challenges faced in Bulgaria), Statewatch, 2007, http://www.statewatch.org/news/2008/jan/valeria-iIlarevaimmigration-detention-bulgaria.pdf Here are the numbers of immigration detainees in Bulgaria by years: in 2012 – 2477; in 2013 – 7 463; in 2014 – 4810; in 2015 – 11902. Source: the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria, Decision No.812100-12241/16.05.2016 on granting access to public information State Agency for Refugees, ‘Statistics and Reports’, http://saref.government.bg/?cat=2 (accessed on 28 July 2016) 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 See, e.g., Ilareva, Valeria, Detention of asylum seekers: interaction between the Return and Reception Conditions Directives in Bulgaria, Odysseus Academic Network blog, November 2015 http://eumigrationlawblog.eu/detention-of-asylum-seekersinteraction-between-the-return-and-reception-conditionsdirectives-in-bulgaria/ See, in particular, the following article on the detention of a stateless asylum seeker in Bulgaria: Ilareva, Valeria, Bulgaria's Treatment of Asylum Seekers, Forced Migration Review, issue 29, December 2007, http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR29/FMR29.pdf, page 6061 Case C‐357/09 PPU, Said Shamilovich Kadzoev (Huchbarov), Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 30 November 2009, paragraph 67, available online at http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=9ea 7d0f130d572f4bbda180f449d831bcce5984c424d.e34KaxiLc3eQ c40LaxqMbN4OchyTe0?text=&docid=72526&pageIndex=0&docla ng=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=1271393 (last visited on 17 June 2016) Ibid., paragraph 65. See also the Opinion of the Advocate General in the case, presented on 10 November 2009, paragraph 95. Case C-357/09 PPU Source: the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria, Decision No.812100-12241/16.05.2016 on granting access to public information Decision No.212164-54 of 21 June 2016 to provide access to public information, Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria. More information on this type of detention at the Elhovo redistribution centre is provided at section 3b in the report. Ministry of the Interior, Monthly information about the migration situation in the Republic of Bulgaria, available at https://www.mvr.bg/NR/rdonlyres/7D93A1D3-F02E-4F25-943EE851AD5C40C5/0/Mesechna_spravka_may_2016.pdf (visited on 7 July 2016) This is further examined in Section 3a below. Decision No.212164-54 of 21 June 2016 to provide access to public information, Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria. Decision No.212164-54 of 21 June 2016 to provide access to public information, Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria, Decision No.81210012241/16.05.2016 on granting access to public information Decision No.812100-33744 of 14 October 2015 to provide access to public information, Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria Upon request UNHCR can obtain Access to individual files. Source: Study interview with the UNHCR Protection Officer, Mrs. Petya Karayaneva, which took place on 12 April 2016 Decision No.812100-12241 of 16 May 2016 to provide access to public information, Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria Decision No.95-00-257/20.06.2016 to grant partial access to public information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria Decision No.812104-67/6.7.2016 to grant access to public information, Ministry of the Interior Decision No.415 of 30 May 2016 to provide access to public information, State Agency for Refugees. SAR replied that they do not keep statistical data on the countries of origin of the stateless asylum seekers. Decision No.212164-54 of 21 June 2016 to provide access to public information, Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria The ‘continuous’ residence is a residence permit for up to one year, which is renewable upon application Ibid. Decision No.95-00-46/23.06.2016 on granting access to public information, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Bulgaria See, e.g., The Equal Rights Trust, Guidelines to Protect Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention, June 2012, Paras.19-22, Accessed on 18 June 2016 at http://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/guidelines%20c omplete.pdf; European Network on Statelessness, Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention. A Regional Toolkit for Practitioners, December 2015, page 7, http://www.statelessness.eu/resources/protecting-statelesspersons-arbitrary-detention-regional-toolkit-practitioners