Denmark - the Refugee Appeals Board’s decision of 19 June 2017
Keywords:
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Country of origin information
Description
"Information used by the Member States authorities to analyse the socio-political situation in countries of origin of applicants for international protection (and, where necessary, in countries through which they have transited) in the assessment, carried out on an individual basis, of an application for international protection.” It includes all relevant facts as they relate to the country of origin at the time of taking a decision on the application, obtained from various sources, including the laws and regulations of the country of origin and the manner in which they are applied, regulations of the country of origin, plus general public sources, such as reports from (inter)national organisations, governmental and non-governmental organisations, media, bi-lateral contacts in countries of origin, embassy reports, etc. This information is also used inter alia for taking decisions on other migration issues, e.g. on return, as well as by researchers. One of the stated aims of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is to progressively bring all activities related to practical cooperation on asylum under its roof, to include the collection of Country of Origin Information and a common approach to its use. |
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Credibility assessment
Description
Assessment made in adjudicating an application for a visa, or other immigration status, in order to determine whether the information presented by the applicant is consistent and credible. |
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Refugee sur place
Description
In the EU context, a person granted refugee status based on international protection needs which arose sur place, i.e. on account of events which took place since they left their country of origin. In a global context, a person who is not a refugee when they leave their country of origin, but who becomes a refugee, that is, acquires a well-founded fear of persecution, at a later date. Synonym: Objective grounds for seeking asylum occurring after the applicant's departure from his/her country of origin Note: Refugees sur place may owe their fear of persecution to a coup d'état in their home country, or to the introduction or intensification of repressive or persecutory policies after their departure. A claim in this category may also be based on bona fide political activities, undertaken in the country of residence or refuge. |
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Revocation of protection status
Description
In the EU context, the decision by a competent authority to revoke, end or refuse to renew the protection status of a person including inter alia: in relation to refugee status cessation in accordance with the Geneva Convention; misrepresentation or omission of facts, including the use of false documents, which were decisive for the granting of refugee status; or if they have been convicted by a final judgement of a particularly serious crime, which constitutes a danger to the community of a Member State; in relation to subsidiary protection status cessation in accordance with QD Art. 16, exclusion per Art.17 or on any of the grounds set out in Art. 19 |
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Subsidiary Protection
Description
The protection given to a third-country national or a stateless person who does not qualify as a refugee but in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that the person concerned, if returned to his or her country of origin, or in the case of a stateless person, to his or her country of former habitual residence, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm as defined in Article 15 of 2004/83/EC, and to whom Article 17(1) and (2) of 2004/83/EC do not apply, and is unable, or, owing to such risk, unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country.” “Note: The UK has opted into the Qualification Directive (2004/83/EC) but does not (legally) use the term Subsidiary Protection. It is believed that the inclusion of Humanitarian Protection within the UK Immigration rules fully transposes the Subsidiary Protection provisions of the Qualification Directive into UK law. |
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Refugee Status
Description
The recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or stateless person as a refugee. |
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Child Specific Considerations
Description
Application of a child-sensitive process and assessment of protection status, taking into account persecution of a child-specific nature and the specific protection needs of children. “When assessing refugee claims of unaccompanied or separated children, States shall take into account the development of, and formative relationship between, international human rights and refugee law, including positions developed by UNHCR in exercising its supervisory functions under the 1951 Refugee Convention. In particular, the refugee definition in that Convention must be interpreted in an age and gender-sensitive manner, taking into account the particular motives for, and forms and manifestations of, persecution experienced by children. Persecution of kin; under-age recruitment; trafficking of children for prostitution; and sexual exploitation or subjection to female genital mutilation, are some of the child-specific forms and manifestations of persecution which may justify the granting of refugee status if such acts are related to one of the 1951 Refugee Convention grounds. States should, therefore, give utmost attention to such child-specific forms and manifestations of persecution as well as gender-based violence in national refugee status-determination procedures.” See also the best interests principle. |
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Gender Based Persecution
Description
‘Gender-related persecution’ is used to encompass the range of different claims in which gender is a relevant consideration in the determination of refugee status. Gender refers to the relationship between women and men based on socially or culturally constructed and defined identities, status, roles and responsibilities that are assigned to one sex or another. Gender is not static or innate but acquires socially and culturally constructed meaning over time. Gender-related claims may be brought by either women or men, although due to particular types of persecution, they are more commonly brought by women. Gender-related claims have typically encompassed, although are by no means limited to, acts of sexual violence, family/domestic violence, coerced family planning, female genital mutilation, punishment for transgression of social mores, and discrimination against homosexuals." |
Headnote:
The applicant is an ethnic Somali and a Sunni Muslim belonging to the Bon Clan from Mesegawayn in the Galgaduud Region, Somalia. The applicant was originally in 2014 granted subsidiary protection by the Danish Immigration Service under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (2). In February 2017, the Danish Immigration Service revoked the applicant’s subsidiary protection.
The account of the applicant regarding his original application was rejected by the Board due to a lack of credibility.
The majority of the Board found probable that the applicant’s daughter if returned to Somalia would be at risk of forced circumcision.
As the primary applicant, the child was granted refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1). Consequently, the cohabiting parents were granted refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1) with reference to the UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection: Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1 (A) 2 and 1 (F) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, published on 22 December 2009 para. 9.
Facts:
The applicant, born in 1992, is an ethnic Somali and a Sunni Muslim belonging to the Bon Clan from Mesegawayn in the Galgaduud Region, Somalia. He entered Denmark in November 2013 and applied for refugee status. He originally stated that he feared to be killed by al-Shabaab or members of the Abgaal-Wa’esli Clan as his brother had killed three members of this clan. Further, in the applicant’s account to the Board he stated that if returned to Somalia his new born daughter is at risk of forced circumcision.
On 18 July 2014, the Danish Immigration Service granted the applicant subsidiary protection under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7, (2) as deportation to South and Central Somalia at that time was found to be a violation of the ECHR Article 3 with reference to the ECtHR Case Sufi and Elmi v. the United Kingdom.
On 14 February 2017, the Danish Immigration Service decided not to prolong the applicant’s temporary protection under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 11 (2), cf. Art. 19 (1) no. 1 and Art. 19 (7) cf. Art. 26 (1).
Decision & reasoning:
The account of the applicant regarding his original application was rejected due to lack of credibility.
The Board then turned to the applicants account regarding the daughter’s risk of forced circumcision.
The Board noted that female circumcision was a broadly accepted cultural phenomenon and according to the country of origin information 95-99% of women in the age of 15-49 had been circumcised. The Board accepted that the applicant’s partner had been circumcised and there is a tradition in the partner’s family, clan and home region for circumcising young girls. Against this background, the majority of the Board found probable that the applicant’s daughter if returned to Somalia would be in risk of forced circumcision.
As the applicant’s daughter was to be considered the primary applicant the Board therefore granted the child refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1) and consequently granted the cohabiting parents refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1). The majority of the Board referred, in this regard, to the UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection: Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1 (A) 2 and 1 (F) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, published on 22 December 2009 para. 9.
Outcome:
The applicant was granted refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1).
Relevant International and European Legislation:
Cited National Legislation:
Cited Cases:
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| ECtHR - Sufi and Elmi v. the United Kingdom, Application Nos. 8319/07 and 11449/07 |
Other sources:
The UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection: Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1 (A) 2 and 1 (F) of the 1951 Convention.
The 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, published on 22 December 2009 para. 9.