Author
In 2023, no cases of discrimination against specific nationalities were reported concerning detention. In the past, when this malpractice was more widely applied, asylum seekers who had their registrations in the pre-removal facilities ranged from all nationalities without exclusion. The reasons provided previously by the national asylum agency SAR to implement registrations in pre-removal centres was the inability to fulfil otherwise the obligation to meet the short 6-working days deadline under the national and community law,[1] if the release from detention and the transfer of detained applicants to open asylum centres was delayed by the immigration police or national security services. In 2023, as in 2022, the SAR almost completely abandoned this malpractice,[2] with only 1 determination conducted in a police pre-removal detention centre.
[1] Article 58(4) LAR, Article 6(1) APD.
[2] Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, 2023 Annual Refugee Status Determination Monitoring Report, 31 January 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3SX3ST7.