On 30 July 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered interim measures under Rule 39 in favour of a single mother with two children in Bulgaria, whose asylum applications have been rejected, and who have been living for years without documents and without access to basic rights.
The request was submitted through a joint initiative of the Centre for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria and the Rule 39 Pro Bono Initiative of the organisation Pro Iura.
The ECtHR ordered the Bulgarian government to urgently take all necessary legal actions and mechanisms to ensure that:
- a) the mother and her two children are provided with access to housing and living conditions compatible with their human dignity and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as well as access to medical care appropriate to their needs;
- b) the mother receives immediate medical treatment for her critical health condition related to loss of vision.
The interim measure is binding on the state and all its institutions under Article 34 of the Convention.
The case concerns a Tunisian national, a survivor of severe domestic violence by her former husband, who is raising her two children – Syrian nationals – on her own. The family has been living in Bulgaria for more than three years. Since 2022, their initial asylum application has been rejected, along with two subsequent applications, despite the family’s severe humanitarian situation, the mother’s serious health problems, and the lack of minimum safeguards for protecting the best interests of the children.
At present, the mother and her minor daughters have been living in Bulgaria without legal status for more than a year and a half – without the right to work for the mother, without access to social services, and without any state support. They survive entirely through assistance from NGOs and the local community.
Moreover, the family cannot be removed from Bulgaria – under Tunisian law, obtaining citizenship or travel documents for the children requires the father’s consent, which is impossible to obtain. This has been officially confirmed by the Tunisian Embassy.
This case is not isolated – other vulnerable families we work with are in similar situations, including individuals of various nationalities and complex life circumstances.
We remind that Bulgaria is one of the few European countries without a mechanism or scheme for regularisation in its national legislation. This leaves many undocumented individuals, who cannot be removed for objective reasons, in a legal vacuum.
The Court’s decision reaffirms that the state’s responsibility does not cease when the legal residence of foreign nationals expires, if they cannot be returned to their country of origin. The number of such individuals in Bulgaria is increasing due to changes in European policies and the growing trend of returns to our country as a border and first entry point to European territory.
It may be time to reconsider our migration policy, pay more serious attention to integration, and stop relying on the assumption that Bulgaria will remain merely a transit country.
