EIT: Puola rikkoi useita ihmisoikeussopimuksen artikloja evätessään pääsyn hakemaan turvapaikkaa

 
Sherov and Others v. Poland (nos. 54029/17, 54117/17, 54128/17, and 54255/17)

The applicants are four Tajik nationals, born in 1958, 1981, 1977 and 1983, who currently live in Poland, Austria and Ukraine.

The case concerns the applicants’ repeated attempts from December 2016 to February 2017 to enter Poland at a Ukrainian border crossing. They were refused entry each time after interviews with border guards, recorded in a summary official note which they had neither read nor signed, and returned to Ukraine. They claim that on each attempt they had stated their wish to apply for international protection because they were at risk of political persecution in Tajikstan. Relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention, the applicants complain that they were denied access to the procedure for claiming asylum in Poland and that they were sent to Ukraine, which was not a safe country for them because they were at risk of being deported to Tajikistan.

The applicants also allege that the decisions refusing them entry into Poland were part of a wider policy of not accepting applications for international protection from persons presenting themselves at the eastern border checkpoints, contrary to Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 (prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens) to the Convention.

Lastly, relying on Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) in conjunction with Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention, they complain that even though they had a right of appeal, the  decisions refusing them entry to Poland were enforced immediately and their appeals did not therefore have automatic suspensive effect.

The applicant in application no. 54255/17 also made a complaint under Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) because he was not able to join his wife and two children, who had been able to make applications for international protection in Poland.

• Violation of Article 3
• Violation of Article 4 of Protocol No. 4
• Violation of Article 13 taken in conjunction with Article 3 and Article 4 of Protocol No. 4

Press release

CASE OF SHEROV AND OTHERS v. POLAND