by Giovanni Marenda (originally published on meltingpot.org)
We are witnessing with great anguish and concern the escalating risk of deportation of Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi, Saudi Arabian activist and journalist, an asylum seeker in Bulgaria for almost four years arbitrarily locked up in a detention center as a “threat to national security.”
On March 26, the Sofia Administrative Court made a final and unappealable order for Abdulrahman’s immediate release, upholding its first ruling of Jan. 18, 2024.
However, on Friday, March 29, instead of executing the release order, officers from the Police Migration Directorate forcibly transferred the Saudi journalist from the section for asylum seekers at the Busmantsi Detention Center (Sofia) to the section dedicated to irregular migrants awaiting deportation.
As recounted by Abdulrahman himself, «On that same afternoon, at exactly 5:20 p.m., two individuals in plain clothes summoned me while I was in my room in the State Agency for Refugees (SAR) section of the detention facility […] They identified themselves as coming from the Migration Directorate […]. They began speaking to me in Bulgarian without me understanding what was happening and without any prior warning. […] I assumed they were taking me to be released, as the court had ruled in my favor. Instead, they called an interpreter over the phone to inform me of my transfer to the migration section of the detention facility, where foreigners are held for the purpose of expulsion and deportation measures. At that moment, I realized that the authorities, rather than complying with the court’s decision to release me, were doing everything in their power to keep me in detention and deport me at the earliest opportunity, despite my asylum claim which is still ongoing».
The two men prevented Abdulrahman from contacting his lawyer, immobilizing him and taking the phone out of his hand, and forced him to sign a document written in Bulgarian of which no copy and translation was given.
Abdulrahman’s detention in recent years has been justified on the basis of Article 67(3) of the Law on Asylum and Refugees, which allows the detention of an asylum seeker if he is considered a threat to national security.
The use of this legal contrivance is not just about this case, but grounds the increasingly frequent practice of detaining protection seekers, who are held in inhumane conditions for up to 18 months based on the completely arbitrary assessments of SANS, the State Agency for National Security.
However, deporting the Saudi activist while his asylum proceedings are still ongoing would be a blatant violation of national, European and international law, primarily the principle of non-refoulement.
As of Monday, March 31, the only information provided to Al-Khalidi’s lawyer was that the transfer was made on the basis of the February 5, 2024 SANS order, which mandates his deportation to Saudi Arabia, while no written documents were provided.
On the morning of Tuesday, April 1, Frontex agents showed up at the Saudi activist’s door, presumably to convince him to accept voluntary repatriation. The extra-legal action of Bulgarian and European authorities in these hours increases the fear of imminent deportation.
Abdulrahman’s fate in the event of repatriation is sealed.
In facts, Abdulrahman’s deportation would be a certain death sentence carried out by European authorities. The Saudi monarchy’s treatment of political opponents caused an outcry when Jamal Khashoggi, with whom Abdulrahman collaborated, was hacked to pieces in the Istanbul consulate in 2018.
Since then, yet another complicit silence has not only descended on the crimes of the despotic Gulf dictatorship in Italy and Europe, but an intense campaign to “clean up” the image of a bloodthirsty regime has been underway, amid major sporting events and courtesy visits.
“They have further scorned my human worth […] ruining my happiness and that of my children, and exacerbating the continuous and deliberate psychological torment I have endured for over three and a half years (since October 2021) at a time when release would have made a real difference“, the Saudi activist writes. “This measure at this time was not spontaneous; it is part of a series of relentless pressure tactics to break my resolve to pursue asylum and force me to return.“
In his statement, Abdulrahman emphasizes how his case is now paradigmatic of the general erosion of the rule of law, which sees administrative detention and “national security” as key devices: “This pattern of contempt for the judiciary and abuse of power against me poses a grave threat not only to my life but also to civil liberties, favoring coercive administrative measures whose mechanisms of impunity are shaped without the need to rely on evidence or facts.“
A protest garrison launched by Migrant Solidarity Bulgaria will be held outside the Sofia detention center this afternoon.
In these dramatic hours, as the Melting Pot Europa Project we join the appeal to civil society, the media, those in institutional positions, and anyone who can amplify Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi’s cause. His life is at stake.