UK faces legal challenge over asylum seekers’ deportations to Bulgaria

The UK government’s migration plans are facing an imminent situation this week, with lawyers seeking to overturn deportations to Bulgaria owed to allegations of brutal conditions faced by migrants and asylum seekers successful the country.

There person been much than 24,000 returns – some enforced and voluntary – from Britain since Labour’s predetermination triumph successful July 2024, according to authorities figures. More than 200 people were returned to Bulgaria successful 2024.

The UK authorities has advertisement hoc arrangements with immoderate countries, including Bulgaria, allowing it to instrumentality asylum seekers erstwhile determination is simply a grounds of their introduction into that country.

However, lawyers are seeking to situation cases of individuals deported from the UK and European Union countries backmost to Bulgaria, informing that returnees look attraction that whitethorn breach article 3 of the European normal connected quality rights, which prohibits torture and inhuman oregon degrading treatment.

In January, the Guardian reported allegations of the Bulgarian authorities ignoring exigency calls and obstructing efforts to rescue 3 Egyptian teenage boys, who aboriginal died successful sub-zero temperatures adjacent the Bulgaria-Turkey borderline successful precocious December. The Bulgarian interior ministry said its borderline forces had reacted successful a timely mode to reports of young radical successful distress, but that the bodies were recovered successful antithetic locations to those initially provided.

In December 2024, the Guardian reported connected grounds that Bulgaria was attempting to force Syrian asylum seekers retired of the country by pressuring them into signing “voluntary return” documents, sometimes with the usage of violence. Bulgaria’s authorities bureau for refugees denied that anyone was forced to instrumentality to their state of origin.

This week, No Name Kitchen (NNK), a humanitarian organisation moving with refugees successful the Balkans, said it had collected the testimonies of 21 people, including 17 Syrians, returned to Bulgaria from different European countries, and recovered much than two-thirds of them had subsequently been enactment nether unit to motion “voluntary return” documents.

A young Syrian woman, who was deported from Germany to Bulgaria, said officials successful Bulgaria enactment unit connected her to motion a “voluntary” instrumentality statement to nonstop her backmost to Syria and said she was threatened by authorities with 18 months successful detention if she refused.

Another responsive deported from the UK said helium had been beaten up by Bulgarian constabulary aggregate times, which resulted successful a breached nose.

George Sheldon Grun, a public-law caseworker from Duncan Lewis Solicitors, said the steadfast was representing respective Syrians who were challenging their removal to Bulgaria successful British courts.

“Reports from organisations connected the crushed bespeak that Syrian refugees successful Bulgaria often look conditions that magnitude to degrading and inhumane treatment. The UK authorities considers Bulgaria a harmless state for return, but the world for those removed suggests otherwise.

“These cases rise superior questions astir the adequacy of extortion and whether removal to Bulgaria is accordant with the UK’s ineligible obligations,” the lawyer said.

Syrians astatine Harmanli modulation exile campy successful Bulgaria. Photograph: Hristo Rusev/Getty Images

In its state update successful March 2025, the European Council connected Refugees and Exiles expressed concerns that accommodation conditions fell beneath “basic standards”. It said problems included infestations of vermin and a nonaccomplishment to supply indispensable services specified arsenic capable nutrient and blistery water, arsenic good arsenic cleanable and functional sanitation facilities.

The destiny of those deported backmost to Bulgaria from different European countries was “concerning”, said Ana Carolina Fisher da Cunha, a quality rights lawyer and co-author of the NNK report.

“Bulgaria’s asylum strategy is failing, and it does not uphold the quality rights standards it is legally bound to arsenic an EU subordinate state. European countries tin nary longer warrant returns to Bulgaria nether the pretence that it is simply a harmless destination,” she said.

“The world is that radical sent backmost to Bulgaria look superior risks of torture and different inhumane and degrading treatment, not conscionable upon instrumentality to their countries of root but wrong Europe’s ain borders. Returns to Bulgaria indispensable end.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “As the nationalist rightly expects, anyone unlawfully successful the UK with exile presumption successful different state volition beryllium removed and returned backmost to that state if deemed harmless to bash so.”

The Bulgarian interior ministry was approached for comment.