Babajanov v. Turkey (no. 49867/08) – forced illegal deportation to Iran unlawful
Published: 1 Jun 2016
This briefing was issued by the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) on 10 May 2016 and has been reprinted in full below. The full decision is available here.
The case essentially concerned the alleged forced illegal deportation of an Uzbek asylum seeker from Turkey to Iran. The applicant, Mohammad Kuranbay Babajanov, is an Uzbek national who was born in 1975 and lives in Turkey.
Mr Babajanov entered Turkey illegally in November 2007, having fled Uzbekistan in 1999 out of fear of persecution because he is a Muslim. Travelling via Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, he eventually settled in Zahedan in Iran from 2005 to 2007 before fleeing for Turkey. On arrival in Turkey he applied for refugee status to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as well as to the Turkish authorities. He was given a temporary residence permit until 24 September 2008 and ordered to report to the police station three times a week for signature.
Mr Babajanov claims that on 12 September 2008, when going to the police station for signature, he was placed in detention along with 29 other asylum seekers. They were driven to the border the same evening and forcibly deported to Iran. Captured by people smugglers and made to pay a ransom, they eventually managed a few days later to enter Turkey illegally again. He submits that, since then, he has been living in hiding in Turkey. His application for refugee status from the UNHCR is still under consideration and he has not received any information from the Turkish authorities as to his asylum request.
The Government submit that Mr Bajanov was deported to Iran, a safe third country, in accordance with domestic law following an assessment of his asylum claim. Furthermore, if he was still in Turkey, it was open to him to claim international protection under new legislation which had entered into force in April 2014 (the Foreigners and International Protection Act, Law no. 6458).
Relying in particular on Article 3 (prohibition of torture and of inhuman or degrading treatment), Mr Babajanov complained about his summary deportation to Iran in September 2008 without an assessment of his asylum claim and without a deportation order, despite the fact that he had had a valid residence permit. He also alleged under Article 3 that he was currently still under a threat of deportation to Iran or Uzbekistan where he would be at a clear risk of death or ill-treatment on account of his political opinions and religious beliefs. Mr Babajanov further made a number of complaints under in particular Article 5 §§ 1 and 2 (right to liberty and security), namely that his detention prior to his removal on 12 September 2008 had been unlawful and that he had not been informed of the reasons for his detention pending deportation.
Violation of Article 3 – on account of Mr Babajanov’s deportation to Iran on 12 September 2008, Violation of Article 5 § 1
Just satisfaction: EUR 7,500 (non-pecuniary damage) and EUR 10,000 (costs and expenses)