People’s Ombudsman Mihail Cotorobai is appalled at the Moldovan authorities’ decision to expel a group of people of Turkish origin who worked for the Moldovan-Turkish Theoretical Lyceum “Orizont” on the pretext of threats to the national security. In a press release, the Office of the People’s Ombudsman says the ombudsman considers that by such actions the international commitments concerning the observance human rights undertaken by Moldova were flagrantly defied, mainly the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom, the United Nation Convention Against Torture and the Refugee Convention, IPN reports.
The people’s ombudsman said the press reports enable to conclude that the legal provisions weren’t observed either, in particular the Constitution, the Law on Asylum in the Republic of Moldova and the Law on the Foreigners’ Regime in the Republic of Moldova.
The persons who were recently expelled are protected by international and national norms on refugees because, as it was reported, these submitted applications for asylum to the Bureau of Migration and Asylum of Moldova. In this case, the legal and international provisions were evidently violated. The principle of non-return is the key element of the refuge protection stipulated in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees that was adopted in Geneva on May 28, 1951. This means that the refugees should not be sent back to the county where they fear they could be persecuted.
According to the ombudsman, the European Court of Human Rights also pronounced on cases when there is a real risk that a person suspected or convicted of terrorism will be subject to bad treatment in another state, stating that the ban on return to the given country is absolute, regardless of the offenses committed earlier or of the behavior. Also, under the Law on the Foreigners’ Regime in the Republic of Moldova, the decision to declare the foreigner undesirable is communicated to this by the competent authority so that it could be challenged in court within five workdays of the communication day.
To have a more complete picture, Mihail Cotorobai asked for relevant information from the Bureau of Migration and Asylum that is in charge of foreigners. He said he does not challenge the fact that the state has the right to control the entry, stay and deportation of foreigners, but this does not mean that the foreigners who are legally or even illegally on the territory of a state cannot invoke at least one of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention or its additional protocols.
If the given persons haven’t been yet expelled from the country, the ombudsman calls on the authorities to give up this intention. He urges the competent bodies to refrain from other decisions of the kind in relation to persons of Turkish origin who the Turkish authorities asked to be extradited.
