Saudi activist Abdulrahman al-Khalidi is under an order of deportation from Bulgaria to Saudi Arabia, where he would be at substantial risk of arbitrary detention and other grave rights violations. ALQST urges the Bulgarian authorities to immediately cancel his deportation, which would constitute a violation of the principle of non-refoulement enshrined in international human rights laws to which Bulgaria is party.
On 7 February 2024 al-Khalidi, who has been seeking asylum in Bulgaria for over two years, was notified of a deportation order issued against him, which his lawyers have appealed. Al-Khalidi is currently being held in administrative detention in Busmantsi Detention Centre near Sofia International Airport, despite the Bulgarian judiciary having issued an order for his release that was then overturned by state security. While in detention he has suffered severe medical neglect.
Al-Khalidi left Saudi Arabia in 2013, following numerous threats as a result of his peaceful online activity and campaigning for constitutional reform. After eight years of exile in Turkey, al-Khalidi left that country and applied for asylum in Bulgaria, on 23 October 2021; he was arrested two days later. His asylum application was initially rejected by the Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees, based on the flawed assessment that Saudi Arabia had “taken measures to democratise society”. Al-Khalidi’s appeal against the rejection of his asylum claim was also rejected by the Administrative Court in Sofia, on 20 February 2023. He then appealed to the Administrative Supreme Court, which on 27 September sent the case back to the lower court for retrial. On 9 January 2024, the court issued a judgement annulling the earlier refusal of asylum, and referring his claim back to the State Agency for Refugees for reconsideration.
Amid mounting repression in recent years, increasing numbers of Saudi citizens and residents have left the country and sought asylum abroad. They run the risk, however, of being deported back to Saudi Arabia. Saudi national Hassan al-Rabea, for example, was arrested at Marrakesh Airport on 14 January 2023 while attempting to travel to Turkey, following the issuance of a provisional arrest warrant at the request of the Saudi authorities for reasons related to his religious beliefs and his family’s history of political activism. Weeks later, despite repeated calls from civil society to prevent his deportation, al-Rabea was extradited from Morocco and forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia, where he was arrested and forcibly disappeared for months. He remains in detention awaiting trial.
If the Bulgarian authorities deport Abdulrahman al-Khalidi to Saudi Arabia, he will be at substantial risk of similar treatment, potentially including arbitrary arrest, unfair trial, and possibly torture. Even in exile, al-Khalidi has already faced abuse including repeated online threats and defamation from supporters of the Saudi government.
At several points in the processing of al-Khalidi’s asylum application, and now with this deportation notice, Bulgaria has acted in violation of its obligations and commitments under both international, European and domestic law and its own constitution (Article 27), which enshrines the Bulgarian Republic’s duty of protection to asylum seekers. ALQST calls on the Bulgarian authorities to immediately cancel al-Khalidi’s deportation, grant him refugee status, and offer him the protection to which he is entitled.
ALQST’s Head of Monitoring and Advocacy Lina AlHathloul comments: “It is shameful that an EU member state is planning to deport a peaceful Saudi activist back to Saudi Arabia, where he would almost certainly face arbitrary arrest and other abuses. The Bulgarian authorities must respect their legal obligations under the principle of non-refoulement, and should urgently halt al-Khalidi’s deportation and grant him asylum.”
