Commentary from Desislava Todorova – Lawyer and Board member of Center for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria The withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan and the subsequent abrupt takeover by the Taliban in the summer of 2021 triggered an increase of asylum applications (Актуална информация | ДЪРЖАВНА АГЕНЦИЯ ЗА БЕЖАНЦИТЕ (government.bg)) of Afghani nationals…
by Radostina Pavlova, Center for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria Bulgaria has assumed the Presidency of the Council of the EU at a pivotal moment in European policy making in the area of migration and asylum. Thus, there is truth to the words of Jean-Claude Juncker spoken before the European Parliament Plenary on January 17,…
By Radostina Pavlova, radostinapav@gmail.com The date 18 March 2017 marked the one-year anniversary of the EU-Turkey Statement,[1] commonly known as the “EU-Turkey deal”. The deal was meant to stem migration flows from Turkey towards Europe’s shores, offering Turkey in exchange visa liberalization in the foreseeable future and a financial injection in the amount of 3…
In its views adopted in the case of R.A.A. and Z. M. v. Denmark[1] on 15 December 2016, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (HRC)[2] found that the deportation of two Syrian refugees from Denmark to Bulgaria would amount to a violation of Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights…
By Radostina Pavlova Just two months after the coming into force of the changes in the Law on the Asylum and Refugees (LAR), which granted powers to the Bulgarian State Agency for the Refugees (SAR) to place asylum seekers in closed centres (see Law allows detention of asylum seekers in Bulgaria), the LAR was amended…