What is the new EU return regulation? It’s a proposed legislative framework, set to replace the national policies of EU member states with a Common European System for Returns of non-EU nationals who have received a return decision in one of the EU member states. The proposal is part of a broader legislative reform and builds…
Mehran Davari, a rock musician who fears persecution if he is deported because of his involvement in anti-regime protests in Iran, is being held at a detention centre in the Bulgarian capital. Activists are campaigning for the release of Iranian refugee and rock musician Mehran ‘Stefan’ Davari, who was detained last week after living…
of Mission Wings Foundation and Center of Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria Foundation on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day and the joint international investigation by Lighthouse Reports, Free Europe, Sky News, ARD Monitor, Domani, SRF, Le Monde and Der Spiegel On 10 December 2022,…
https://flashvideo.rferl.org/Videoroot/Pangeavideo/2022/12/0/03/034d0000-0aff-0242-8942-08dad8fa22a7_240p.mp4 Video footage and eyewitness accounts show that Bulgarian police authorities are illegally holding migrants in a barricaded hut without the right to an international protection procedure. They are then returned to Turkey. It is also suspected that this is happening with the knowledge of the Frontex forces in the country. This is a…
(Published also in Bulgarian here. We thank Deian Vladov for the courtesy translation) “The inrush of the COVID-19 pandemic has completely shifted away the focus from human rights and, in the context of survival, the fight for rights is now harder and even “inhumane”. “The right to health is not contrary to human rights altogether…
The Center for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria was invited to provide input to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) for its upcoming session to examine the 6th report of Bulgaria. The meeting with NGOs will take place on 21 February in Geneva. In its submission, the CLA highlights six…
by Andreas Aravossitas The Council of Europe (COE) has recently published two reports on Bulgaria, after sending delegations in the end of 2017 to observe and report on the situation of asylum seekers, migrants and other foreign nationals in Bulgaria. These delegations produced two very enlightening reports on the current situation in Bulgarian administrative detention…
by Andreas Aravossitas Canada is often regarded as an exemplary industrialized democracy that excels at handling immigration issues and is welcoming to refugees and migrants. The truth, however, is far from perfect in relation to detention of irregular migrants and asylum seekers. While there are certain areas where Canada’s immigration detention system appears to be fair,…
Narek arrives in Bulgaria when he is 6 months old with his mother and spends his entire life in Bulgaria. He is now 23 years old. His native language is Bulgarian, he graduated from a Bulgarian school and Bulgaria is the only country he considers his home. He is Bulgarian by all natural laws, but in…
Photo by Victoria Nicolova On 14.07.2017, Center for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria (CLA) and Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights (BLHR) submitted to the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria a joint statement on the Bill to Amend and Complement the Ministry of Interior Act (the Bill), which was posted on the public discussion Internet…