The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) supports the Global Campaign to End Immigration Detention of Children and insists that governments around the world cease the practice of immigration detention of children based solely on their pending status or that of their parents. We call on governments to stop the immigration detention of children expeditiously and completely in such cases.

In Bulgaria, the practice of immigration detention of unaccompanied foreign children in Special Homes for Temporary Accommodation of Foreigners (SHTAF) continued in 2014 regardless of the fact that this was explicitly prohibited by law in March 2013 (Law on Aliens Bulgaria, Art. 44, para. 9).

However, the reason for this practice is rooted in the lack of measures allowing national child protection authorities to accommodate unaccompanied children in institutions for residential community-based services or in a foster family. Read more in Bulgarian Helsinki Committee's Annual Report on Human Rights in Bulgaria in 2014.

Sign the petition and show your support for ending the immigration detention of children.