Two Syrian families filed an appeal against the State Secretary for Justice and Security’s decision to reject the applicants’ request for a temporary asylum residence permit in the Netherlands and to transfer them to Bulgaria where they had already been granted international protection. The court issued interim rulings and made an arguable claim that return to Bulgaria may constitute a violation of Article 4 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

To investigate the case properly the Court of the Hague sent ten questions to the Bulgarian authorities. According to the information provided by the Bulgarian authorities, Bulgaria has created a legal capacity to be able to withdraw or terminate a granted international protection status if the status holder has not extended the identity document and or residence permit in time. If the Bulgarian authorities exercise this power, the beneficiaries must demonstrate the failing to renew their document in time was excusable. The court determined that leaving for another Member State to seek international protection after the time limit had expired would not be regarded as an excusable reason for not extending the identity documents.

The court ruled that applicants faced a high risk of having their refugee status revoked if they were sent back to Bulgaria. The applicants would have to reapply for international protection and present new evidence and findings to prevent having their subsequent request for international protection rejected. The Court of the Hague further determined that the ground for revocation by the Bulgarian authorities violated the Refugee Convention and EU law, in particular the recast Qualification Directive.

The Bulgarian authorities revealed that a bill to repeal this statutory provision had been introduced in Bulgaria. However, the Court of the Hague ruled that until it remains in effect, the State Secretary for Justice and Security was not permitted to order foreign nationals who have been granted international protection in Bulgaria to return to Bulgaria. As a result, the Court of the Hague upheld the appeal and ordered that the applicants must exercise the rights they derived from their declaratory refugee status in the Netherlands.