Belgium condemned by European Court of Human Rights
ECtHR finds Belgium violated Article 3 and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights by detaining a mother and three children during asylum procedure
The European Court of Human Rights published on Tuesday (13.12.2011) its judgement on the case Kanagaratnam and others v. Belgium.
Ms. Kanagaratnam and her three children, Sri Lankan nationals of Tamil origin, applied for asylum upon their arrival in Brussels airport, having transited through Congo. After their first asylum application had been rejected, they lodged a second asylum application and were
eventually granted refugee status.
The family were held for almost four months in a detention centre for irregular migrants pending their removal. The Court found that the detention of a mother and her three minor children in centre 127 bis amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3 ECHR with regard to the children.
The Court had come to the same conclusion in two other cases against Belgium concerning the detention (in the same centre as in this case) of children accompanied by their mother (Muskhadzhiyeva e.a. v. Belgique) and unaccompanied asylum seeking child (Mubilanzila Mayeka et Kaniki Mitunga c. la Belgique).