M.K.A.H. v. Switzerland

12. Accordingly, the State party is obligated to:

(a) Reconsider the decision to deport M.K.A.H. and his mother to Bulgaria under the Agreement between the Swiss Federal Council and the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria on the readmission of persons staying without authorization;

(b) Urgently review the author’s and M.K.A.H.’s asylum application, ensuring that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration and that M.K.A.H. is duly heard, while taking into account the particular circumstances of the case, including, on one hand, the mental health problems the author and her child are dealing with as a result of the many traumatic events they have experienced as victims of armed conflict and asylum seekers, and their need for specific treatment, as well as the accessibility of such treatment in Bulgaria, and, on the other hand, the conditions in which M.K.A.H., a child accompanied only by his mother, who does not speak Bulgarian, would be received in Bulgaria;

(c) Take into account, when it reviews the asylum application, the risk of M.K.A.H.’s remaining stateless in Bulgaria;

(d) Ensure that M.K.A.H. receives qualified psychosocial assistance to facilitate his rehabilitation;

(e) Take all necessary measures to ensure that such violations do not recur, including by: (i) removing all legal, administrative and financial obstacles with a view to ensuring that all children have access to appropriate means of challenging decisions affecting them; (ii) ensuring that children are systematically heard in the context of asylum procedures; and (iii) ensuring that national protocols for the return and readmission of children to third countries are in compliance with the Convention.