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“If you want to get treatment, go back to Germany or Turkey, you’re not going to get it here”- Deportation from Germany condems into Medical Negligence in Bulgaria
No Name Kitchen (NNK) Field Reporters met the respondent outside Harmanli Reception Centre, Bulgaria, during regular visits to the Centre. The respondent is a 39 year old Kurdish man, from Kobane in Syria. He told NNK reporters of his experiences during his deportation from Germany to Bulgaria, which took place on the 28/29th January 2025 and about his medical issues and problems with any access to health care in Bulgaria. A formal interview was scheduled with him, and NNK reporters took the following testimony.
Unwelcoming Arrival in Bulgaria and Germany: The respondent arrived in Bulgaria on the 18th October, 2023. He was immediately detained in the police station, and the authorities forced him to give his fingerprints and apply for asylum. He also states that during this detention, the authorities took all his medication. He stayed approximately two months before he went to Germany on the 28th December 2023. He stayed in Germany about a year and a half, and applied for asylum in January 2024. He received the ‘Ausweis’ card, but not a residence permit. After a year and a half, he was informed that he would be deported to Bulgaria to resume his first asylum application there, in accordance with the Dublin III regulation. He tried to appeal this decision, and provided all the documents asked for, including his voluntary work with the Red Cross and medical attests. He waited several more months and states that he did not receive any answer from the court. His documents however show that his appeals were rejected in September 2024. This shows that the respondent didn`t receive sufficient information about his own case. *Brutal and Fatal Dublin Deportation*Whilst the respondent was staying in Rendsburg Reception Centre, during the night of the 28th-29th January 2025, five policemen came to the reception centre and arrested him. He was handcuffed violently and taken directly to the airport, without being told where he was going or why. He stated that his mental state was very bad, and the police were violent against him, and he was struggling to breathe because of his asthma. An ambulance had to be called, which gave him some inhaling medicine. After that the five policemen and the doctor of the ambulance went on the plane with him. On 29th January 2025 he was deported by plane to Sofia, Bulgaria. Before his deportation from Germany to Bulgaria, the respondent had appointments scheduled in the hospital, and was receiving medication and treatment for his sickness. He has an inoculation drug, and receives shots and cortisone. He also received inhaler medication for his asthma. He thinks that this means they should not have deported him, and that the deportation was unlawful. He has all the files and documents which he thinks will help him make an assessment of the situation.
Back in Bulgaria: Medical Negligence. When he arrived he was handed over to the Bulgarian authorities, who gave him instructions to go to the Harmanli camp by himself. He had one interview with the authorities, who asked him the same questions as in his initial asylum interview – like when he entered Bulgaria. He reports that they gave him a lot of documents to sign, and he didn’t understand what these were, and that he was forced to sign. He was not allowed to have copies or photos of these documents. Although he needed life-important medicine, he did not receive any of it in Bulgaria and the camp authorities refused to take him to the hospital, even though he was running out of the medication. He was told that SAR would not help with it, and if he wanted to go he should pay for himself. He also complained that his room was too humid, so mould and damp was growing, and asked to change room or give him a heater, because this was worsening his health conditions. He reports that they said if he didn’t like it he could “go rent a room in a hotel”, or “go back to Germany”. The respondent said he felt like he was being treated like a “slave” or a “criminal”. He reports that there is one doctor that is supposed to provide medical support at the camp once a week. But the respondent states that often the doctor doesn`t appear or sends people away. As soon as the doctor came, he went immediately to the doctor. He has been telling them since he entered the camp that he needs medicines, and the doctor refused. He reports that he was told that because he was new to the camp, and therefore his name wasn’t in the system, the doctor would not support him. He tried to speak to the management about it but they also refused to support him. He states that they keep saying to him, “if you don’t like it, just go back to Germany. This is how it is here”, and “if you want to get treatment, go back to Germany or Turkey, you’re not going to get it here”. He was told that he needs to stay in the camp for several months before he would be eligible for access to healthcare – for his ‘name to appear in the system’. He tried to report the doctor to the Red Cross, and UNICEF, but he states that nothing happens. He feels as though “nobody is looking out for him” and everyone is mocking him. The respondent still does not have an inhaler, which is affecting his daily life severely because he has asthma attacks every day.
overview
1 people ,
from Rojava - kurdish Syria,
aged 39.