Sweden - Migration Court, 13 July 2011, UM 1238-11
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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Persecution (acts of)
Description
"Human rights abuses or other serious harm, often, but not always, with a systematic or repetitive element. Per Article 9 of the Qualification Directive, acts of persecution for the purposes of refugee status must: (a) be acts sufficiently serious by their nature or repetition as to constitute a severe violation of basic human rights, in particular the rights from which derogation cannot be made under Article 15(2) of the ECHR; or (b) be an accumulation of various measures, including violations of human rights which is sufficiently severe as to affect an individual in a similar manner as mentioned in (a). This may, inter alia, take the form of: acts of physical or mental violence, including acts of sexual violence; legal, administrative, police and/or judicial measures which are in themselves discriminatory or which are implemented in a discriminatory manner; prosecution or punishment, which is disproportionate or discriminatory; denial of judicial redress resulting in a disproportionate or discriminatory punishment; prosecution or punishment for refusal to perform military service in a conflict, where performing military service would include crimes or acts falling under the exclusion clauses in Article 12(2). " |
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Persecution Grounds/Reasons
Description
Per Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention, one element of the refugee definition is that the persecution feared is “for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion“. Member States must take a number of elements into account when assessing the reasons for persecution as per Article 10 of the Qualification Directive. |
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Membership of a particular social group
Description
One of the grounds of persecution specified in the refugee definition per Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention. According to the Qualification Directive, membership of a particular social group means members who share an innate characteristic, or a common background that cannot be changed, or share a characteristic or belief that is so fundamental to identity or conscience that a person should not be forced to renounce it, and that group has a distinct identity in the relevant country, because it is perceived as being different by the surrounding society. Depending on the circumstances in the country of origin, a particular social group might include a group based on a common characteristic of sexual orientation. Sexual orientation cannot be understood to include acts considered to be criminal in accordance with national law of the Member States: Gender related aspects might be considered, without by themselves alone creating a presumption for the applicability of this concept. |
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Political Opinion
Description
One of the grounds of persecution specified in the refugee definition per Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention. According to the Qualification Directive the concept of political opinion includes holding an opinion, thought or belief on a matter related to potential actors of persecution and to their policies or methods, whether or not that opinion, thought or belief has been acted upon by the applicant. |
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Discrimination
Description
Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference which is based on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, and which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by all persons, on an equal footing, of all rights and freedoms. |
Headnote:
Bidoons in Kuwait are not issued with ID documents and are denied work, school and medical care. Despite the quality of the documents the applicant submitted he was considered to have established his affiliation as an unregistered Bidoon. The Court found that he had a well-founded fear of being subjected to further persecution as an unregistered Bidoon and that he qualified for refugee status. He was granted permanent residence as a refugee.
Facts:
The applicant was a Bidoon from Kuwait who sought asylum in Sweden on November 2nd 2010. He had been apprehended by the police in Kuwait in 2009 while selling fruit and was charged with not having a permit for this activity. The police subjected him to physical violence and verbal abuse. He was released after four days and forced to sign a document stating he would never work again and that he would not divulge what had occurred. (He had not mentioned this at the initial hearing because he felt ashamed talking about this in front of a female interpreter.)
As an unregistered Bidoon he claimed that the lacked many basic rights and together with friends formed an informal group to write slogans on walls to protest against discriminatory treatment. In October 2010 three in the group were arrested by the police before the applicant arrived at the agreed venue. A few days later the police sought him with a summons and this occurred on three subsequent occasions. He hid at his cousin’s home.
The Kuwaiti authorities do not hold registers of Bidoons and therefore it was not easy for them to locate him. He claimed that his family and relatives contributed money so that he could flee, which he did with the help of a facilitator who accompanied him to Sweden. If returned he claimed he would face persecution and also risk punishment for illegal exit.
He suffered from diabetes and lacked funds to pay for his medicine (which was free to Kuwaiti citizens). Since he was an unregistered Bidoon there was also a high chance that Kuwait would not readmit him.
The Migration Board rejected the application. The Migration Board claimed that the identification documents presented had low evidentiary value (they lacked a photograph). The applicant had not submitted a passport, so it was not possible to establish when or how he had left Kuwait. The Migration Board found that he had not established that he was a Bidoon. If he was found to be a Bidoon then it was more likely that he was registered because unregistered Bidoons would not be able to raise the money to flee. The applicant and his companions had not been caught in the act of painting slogans by the police and there was no clear nexus between these events and a political involvement. If there was political involvement it was at a very low level.
Decision & reasoning:
The Migration Court had to first establish whether the applicant was a Bidoon or not and, if so which category. The investigation into the submitted documents, especially the birth certificate showed that it could be genuine. It was not possible to verify the Bidoon identification card but it had the same format and character as mentioned in a country of origin report and therefore could not be dismissed as totally lacking in evidentiary value.
The country of origin information also confirmed that Bidoons have great difficulty in obtaining identity documents in the form of marriage certificates and driving licenses. Therefore it is not likely that a Bidoon can establish his identity or membership of a group. Therefore an overall assessment must be made of the applicant’s account and the submitted documents.
The applicant consistently maintained that he and his family were victims of discrimination as unregistered Bidoons being denied schooling, health care and the right to work. His account was detailed, consistent and lacked contradictions.
His account tallied also with the known conditions for unregistered Bidoons. The Court did not support the Migration Board’s claim that an unregistered Bidoon would be unable to raise the money to flee. Therefore, the Court found that what the applicant had presented was sufficient to show that he was reasonably likely to be an unregistered Bidoon. These Bidoons live under extremely difficult conditions and are systematically discriminated against. The Court accepted the applicant’s reason for not divulging earlier the treatment he was subjected to in 2009 and found his account credible. The Court found that the applicant belonged to the group of unregistered Bidoons and that the applicant personally ran a risk of being arrested by the police because of his membership of this social group.
Outcome:
The Court therefore found that he had a well-founded fear of being subjected to further persecution as an unregistered Bidoon and that he qualified for refugee status based on chapter 4 section 2 of the Alien’s Act. He was granted a permanent residence permit and declared to be a refugee.
Other sources:
Country of origin information Lifos 20879 available at lifos.migrationsverket.se