European Database of Asylum Law

The current case concerns the expulsion of Mr. Arif Savran “the applicant” from Denmark to his country of origin, Turkey in 2015 because of his criminal convictions in Denmark. The applicant argued that his expulsion to Turkey had been in violation of Article 3 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights because he was suffering paranoid schizophrenia and that he was a “settled migrant”.

The Court found that expulsion of the applicant to Turkey did not violate Article 3 under the Paposhvili threshold test, because the evidence was not “capable of demonstrating that there are substantial grounds” for believing that as a “seriously ill person”, the applicant “would face a real risk… resulting intense suffering or to a significant reduction in life expectancy”.  Also, there was no evidence to show that applicant was causing harm to himself.

In relation to the violation of Article 8, the Court found that Danish authorities failed to consider the mental conditions of the applicant and the applicant expulsion to Turkey violated his “private life” under the Article 8 of the Convention.

The expulsion of the applicant to Somalia was in violation of Article 8 of the Convention, because the offences committed by the applicant did not posed a threat to public order and he had not previously been warned of expulsion or had a conditional expulsion order imposed. Furthermore, the applicant also had very strong ties to Denmark and virtually no ties with Somalia. Therefore, the expulsion of Mr. Abdi, combined with a life-long ban on returning, was disproportionate.

The Court decides that Greece is responsible for the examination of the applicant’s claim for international protection. The Court does not find that asylum procedures in Greece are flawed and that the applicant will be exposed to inhuman and degrading reception conditions. Moreover, neither the fact that the applicant’s sister is living in Germany nor the purpose of medical and psychological support in a Member State entitles the applicant under the Dublin Regulation to choose which country will examine his application for international protection.

The Court decides that a beneficiary of international protection cannot be deported to a country in which the individual concerned faces a serious risk of inhumane or degrading treatment. The risk of destitution after deportation is only excluded when the receiving state authorities provide a specific, and not just a general, assurance to the individual concerned.

The assessment for a well-founded fear of persecution under the Refugee Convention must have regard to Country-of-Origin information and reports.  Moreover, if the publication of the applicant’s name will have no adverse effect on either him or his family, the appellant’s private life rights, protected by article 8 ECHR, will not outweigh the public interest in open justice, as protected by article 10 ECHR.