during the research process in response to decisions received from the authorities and courts.
The imputed nationality case raised issues of asylum determination, civil registration, family
law, parental rights, and domestic abuse, as well as the risk of statelessness. Lawyers took a
careful step-by-step approach to considering all options through both court and
administrative procedures, seeking expert reports to inform relevant procedures, and
adapting approaches to try new strategies where one was unsuccessful. In the case of the
Palestinian family seeking protection, careful consideration was given to the complexities of
securing refugee protection for Palestinian refugees in Bulgaria, including the asylum
authorities’ failure to apply Article 1D of the Refugee Convention,14 as well as the respective
rights applicants are entitled to under the asylum process, as opposed to the statelessness
determination procedure, in which applicants have limited rights and may be subject to
detention.15
At the time of writing, the final outcomes in all cases were still pending, though significant
progress had been made towards exploring different strategies and options, and in all cases,
the families reported feeling heard and supported. The work to address issues relating to
parental rights and to change incorrectly recorded nationality status in birth certificates, as
well as the work to ensure correct application of Article 1D of the Refugee Convention in
Palestinian refugee status determination cases is of strategic importance to the project
partner and is providing important learning – as well as potentially setting precedent - for
similar cases in the future.
14
ENS & BADIL (2022) Palestinians and the search for protection as refugees and stateless persons:
https://www.statelessness.eu/updates/publications/palestinians-and-search-protection-refugees-andstateless-persons
15
For more information on the legal and policy framework relating to statelessness in Bulgaria, see
https://index.statelessness.eu/country/bulgaria