The author of the communication is B.M., a national of Afghanistan born on 21 April 2006. She submits the communication on behalf of herself and her siblings, M.Z. and K.Z., nationals of Afghanistan, born on 3 January 2016 and 3 February 2013 respectively, and her mother, M.M., a national of Afghanistan born on 4 February 1988. The author alleges that the State party has violated their rights under articles 3, 6, 12, 22, 27, 28, 37 and 39 of the Convention. The author is represented by counsel. The Optional Protocol entered into force for the State party on 12 November 2015.
B.M.’s mother was subjected to a forced child marriage and the Finnish authorities have recognized her status as a victim of human trafficking, along with her need for continuous support and therapy. All three children, like their mother, were admitted to the assistance system for victims of human trafficking in Finland. The children’s father died of cancer in Greece and the children are fully dependent on their mother, who has severe health problems. She has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and mixed anxiety and depression disorder.
On 8 April 2022, the family applied for asylum in Finland, arguing unbearable and unsafe living conditions, along with continuous threats, as their reasons for fleeing Greece.
On 20 April 2022, the Finnish Immigration Service interviewed the mother, M.M., and the oldest daughter, B.M. Neither had legal counsel present at the interview. The two youngest children were not heard during the proceedings.
On 28 July 2022, the Finnish Immigration Service declared the asylum application inadmissible and decided to return the family to Greece, where they had been granted international protection on 29 June 2021. The Immigration Service also issued a notice refusing them entry into Finland for two years. On 12 September 2022, the decision of the Immigration Service was communicated to the family.
On 14 September 2022, the decision of the Finnish Immigration Service was appealed before the Helsinki Administrative Court and the family requested interim measures. They argued that the Immigration Service had not assessed the best interests of the children. The family emphasized that the principle of non-refoulment, procedural guarantees and the best interests of the child required an imminent assessment of the necessity for interim measures. However, on the same day, the Helsinki Administrative Court rejected their application for interim measures. The return orders have been valid and directly enforceable since then.
On 21, 26 and 29 September 2022, the family submitted three new requests for interim measures, pointing to serious deficiencies in the asylum procedure, emphasizing that neither the mother nor the oldest daughter had received assistance during their asylum interview, nor had they obtained legal counsel before the decision of the Finnish Immigration Service. The family emphasized the necessity of interim measures to provide the court with an adequate clarification of the health of the mother and the oldest daughter. They also submitted a medical statement regarding the health of the mother, M.M., who had been diagnosed with generalized panic disorder, anxiety and depression disorder. The family referred to the recommendation of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman on 23 September 2022. The Ombudsman had expressed the opinion that recent statements from the Committee indicated deficient conditions in Greece from the perspective of children’s rights, even for those with international protection. The Ombudsman had stressed the need to consider the decisions of pending cases before international treaty bodies and the Supreme Administrative Court for everyone who came from Greece. The Ombudsman urged the national authorities to refrain from return measures in order to ensure the equal protection of fundamental and human rights for asylum-seekers coming from Greece. Nevertheless, the court maintained its stance, stating that there were no grounds for granting interim measures, and rejected all requests for interim measures.
The author submits that the expulsion of her family would violate the children’s right to physical and psychological recovery under article 37 of the Convention, should the family return to traumatic, frightening surroundings, in which the children lost their father and were left without adequate care and education.
Pursuant to article 6 of the Optional Protocol, on 7 October 2022, the Committee, acting through its working group on communications, registered the communication and granted interim measures, suspending the family’s return to Greece while the communication was pending before the Committee.
On 7 December 2022, the State party submitted its observations on the admissibility of the communication and requested that admissibility be examined separately from the merits. On 7 July 2023, the Committee decided to deny the split request.
On 25 October 2023, the author’s counsel reported that she had lost contact with the author since June 2023 and that the author had been missing from the reception centre since 14 September 2023.
At its meeting on 26 January 2024, the Committee, having considered that the author’s counsel had lost contact with her, decided to discontinue consideration of communication No. 199/2022, in accordance with rule 26 of its rules of procedure under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.