CCPR/C/121/D/2770/2016
Factual background
2.1
The author is from Damascus. He submits that he fled the Syrian Arab Republic in
March 2015 because of the war and that he entered Greece in April of the same year as an
unaccompanied minor. Upon arrival on the Greek island of Chios, the author was
apprehended by the local authorities and placed in a closed facility where his fingerprints
were taken because of his illegal entry. After a few days on Chios, he was allowed to travel
to Athens where he stayed in a hostel for four months, covering the costs himself. When he
ran out of funds, he became homeless and lived on the streets for about two months. He
indicates that he spent most of the nights in a large park, where he met a Syrian refugee
who advised him to file a request for asylum in Greece in order to require accommodation
from the Greek authorities. He did so on an unspecified date.
2.2
The author indicates that he filed his asylum request but that his attempts to secure
the support of the Greek authorities in finding accommodation failed. Local authorities
were extremely aggressive when contacted, and the author felt rejected. During those
months, the author witnessed other people being exposed to violence and robberies. He
spent many nights awake in order to avoid attacks. In June 2015, the author passed his
asylum interview with the Greek authorities. He received refugee status but never received
official notice of that decision, which he was informed of later by the Danish authorities.2
2.3
Due to the very difficult living conditions in Greece and the lack of prospects for
improvement, the author left Greece on 20 July 2015 and travelled to Denmark in August
and lodged an application for asylum. Once in Denmark, he was informed by the Danish
authorities that he had been granted asylum in Greece on 27 July. The author also claims
that due to the stress caused by the personal situation he has had to face, he is emotionally
vulnerable, and he has inflicted harm upon himself while in Denmark.3
2.4
On 29 March 2016, the Danish Immigration Service rejected the author’s request for
asylum on the grounds that Greece was his first country of asylum and, under section 29b
of the Danish Aliens Act, he could not be granted asylum in Denmark. The DIS indicated
that given that he had been granted refugee status in Greece, the author could legally enter
the country and settle there. The Service further indicated that the fact that the author was
not aware that he had been issued a residence permit in Greece did not affect the outcome
of his asylum claim. The author appealed this decision to the Refugee Appeals Board, while
aware that such appeal is not an effective remedy as it does not have suspensive effect 4 and
that it does not provide an opportunity to submit and substantiate new information.
2.5
On 20 May 2016, the author informed his counsel that his correct birth date was 1
June 2000. To substantiate this information, he provided Syrian identity documents,
indicating that his brother had sent the documents to him electronically. 5 On 23 May, the
author submitted an official request to the Danish Immigration Service indicating his real
age and providing a copy of the documents that he had received from his brother. The
author submits that he had initially provided false information concerning his age to the
Greek authorities because he had been advised that he should identify himself as an adult,
as unaccompanied migrant minors were systematically detained in Greece. Additionally, as
he was not sure whether the legal adult age in Greece was 18 or 21, he opted for stating that
he was 21 years old. Consequently, he was registered by the Greek authorities as an adult
with the false birth date of 1 June 1995. The author further submits that he provided the
same false information to the Danish authorities for the same reasons and because he had
already been registered in Greece as having been born on 1 June 1995.
2.6
On an unspecified date, the author’s counsel submitted supplementary information
to the Refugee Appeals Board in support of the author’s age claim. She reported that she
had been in contact with the staff at the asylum centre dealing with the author’s case, who
observed that the author’s friends were all about 15 or 16 years old. They further
2
3
4
5
2
See para. 2.3.
The author does not provide further information in this regard.
The Danish Immigration Service in its decision indicates that the author cannot stay in Denmark
while a possible appeal against its decision is reviewed by the Board.
The author has provided a copy of the documents to the Committee.