ECtHR - Communicated cases against Poland, Greece, Serbia and Turkey

Date: 
Friday, October 26, 2018

The European Court of Human rights recently communicated four asylum-related cases:

  • K.T. and Z.K. against Poland (application no. 46697/18): The case concerns two Tajik nationals who lodged an application for international protection in Poland. On the basis that they had been persecuted for being members of a political party in Tajikistan. They complain that their expulsion to Tajikistan would amount to a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.
  • A.J. against Greece (application no. 34298/18): This application concerns a Palestinian unaccompanied minor, who was granted asylum in Greece in 2016, but his refugee status was revoked and he was ordered to return to Palestine. The applicant complains that his return to Palestine would amount to an Article 3 violation, while his separation from his siblings, lack of psychosocial support and guardianship constitutes a violation of Article 8 (1). Lastly, the applicant claims not having an effective remedy at his disposal, as required by Article 13 of the Convention.
  • A.K. against Serbia (application no. 57188/16): The complaint was lodged by a Sudanese national who transited though Turkey, Greece and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and first claimed asylum when arriving in Serbia. His request was rejected as inadmissible on grounds that the FYROM was to be considered a “safe third country”. The applicant complains under Article 3 that he would be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment in case of his forced return to the FYROM, as well as to the risk of chain refoulement to Greece and further to Turkey. The applicant also avers that the blanket rejection of asylum claimants arriving to Serbia from the FYROM by both the asylum administrative authorities and courts, exposes him to a risk of arbitrary removal to the FYROM and Greece were he faces the deficiencies in the asylum procedure and eventual refoulement to Sudan in breach of Article 3 of the Convention. Lastly, the applicant complains that the automatic application of the safe third country concept constitutes a breach of Article 13.
  • M.C. against Turkey (application no. 31592/18): The applicant, a Georgian national, faces extradition to Russia, allegedly in disregard of his poor health condition and the real risk of death or ill-treatment that such extradition would entail, in violation of Article 2 and 3 of the Convention. The applicant also complains under Article 5 (1) of the alleged unlawfulness of his detention for extradition purposes and of the conduct and outcome of the extradition procedure, none of which complied with the requirements of the European Convention on Extradition.

This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the weekly ELENA legal update. The purpose of these updates is to inform asylum lawyers and legal organizations supporting asylum seekers and refugees of recent developments in the field of asylum law. Please note that the information provided is taken from publicly available information on the internet. Every reasonable effort is made to make the content accurate and up to date at the time each item is published but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE.   

                                                     

 

Keywords: 
Detention
Indirect refoulement
Political Opinion
Procedural guarantees
Safe third country
Unaccompanied minor