In February 2023, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) published its communication in M.F. v Switzerland (CRC/C/92/D/126/2020). The case concerned M.F., a Syrian mother with Kurdish ethnicity, who submitted the case on behalf of her four children claiming that a deportation to Bulgaria would violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The applicant was forced into a violent marriage at the age of 11. In 2017, the family fled Syria and received asylum in Bulgaria. They were subsequently expelled of the asylum camp and had to beg on the street given the lack of employment opportunities and social welfare assistance. The family therefore sought asylum in Germany where the mother received protective measures as a result of the abusive relationship and filed for divorce. Fearing her husband, the mother and the children left for Switzerland.
In Switzerland, the applicant and her children claimed asylum, but the State Secretariat and the Federal Administrative Court ordered their removal to Bulgaria. The Committee requested interim measures suspending the deportation while the CRC considers the case. Switzerland then asked for the discontinuance of the case as it initiated the reconsideration of the asylum claim and stated that there was no risk for removal to Bulgaria. After the mother and children received refugee status, the Committee decided to discontinue the case as the subject matter became moot.