CCPR/C/114/D/2426/2014
Factual background
2.1
The author was born into a Muslim Iranian family of Kurdish origin in Al-Tash
refugee camp, Iraq. The author’s parents had fled the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 and
moved to Al-Tash camp. When that camp was closed in 2005, the family moved to another
refugee camp in northern Iraq, Barika camp, where the author lived until his departure from
Iraq in April 2013.
2.2
On 28 July 2013, the author applied for asylum in Denmark.1 On 21 and 29 August
2013, he was interviewed by the Danish Immigration Service about his identity, travel route
and grounds for seeking asylum. The author provided a copy of a certificate issued by the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in November
2011, certifying him and his family members as Iranian refugees in Iraq. As to the reason
for seeking asylum, the author explained that he had left Iraq because of his family’s
political situation and the dire conditions of Iranian refugees in Iraq, where they “had no
country and no rights”. He argued that his father had been a member of the Democratic
Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) until 1979 and had “fought for PDKI” and lost his
eyesight as a result. The author added that his father had left the Islamic Republic of Iran
because of his political activities but had ceased to be politically involved in 1979,
“although the family house was still used by Kurdish partisans to smuggle weapons”. He
also argued that his brother had smuggled weapons for PDKI when he was in the Islamic
Republic of Iran but had ceased to be a PDKI member after they moved to Al-Tash camp.
His brother was later granted refugee status in Sweden in 2001, where he lived until his
death in 2007 or 2008. He noted that his brother had died under mysterious circumstances
and suspected that the Iranian intelligence service had been behind his death. He added that,
although he himself had never been politically involved, he had participated in cultural
events organized by PDKI, such as folk dances, and that he had attended party meetings in
Iraq and memorials for former PDKI secretaries-general. However, he had never held a
position in PDKI. The author further explained that he had applied for PDKI membership
seven months before his departure to Denmark but had not been informed whether he had
been accepted. He argued that he was considered as a political person in the Islamic
Republic of Iran due to his father’s and his brother’s political activities. At the interview,
the author admitted having lied about his travel route.
2.3
On 11 October 2013, the Danish Immigration Service denied asylum to the author.
On 20 May 2014, the Refugee Appeals Board upheld that decision. The Board concluded
that the political activities of the author’s father had occurred a long time ago and that the
author had provided diverging statements regarding his brother’s continued activities after
1979. The Board concluded that the author had not proven the likelihood that the family’s
overall activities had been of such a nature and intensity that they alone would justify
asylum. The fact that the author had participated in cultural Kurdish activities such as folk
dances could not lead to a different conclusion. The Board also found that the author had
provided an account about his travel route that was not credible. Additionally, the Board
found that the fact that the author had been born and raised in Al-Tash camp could not
alone justify a residence permit. The Board concluded that the applicant had not proven the
likelihood that he would be at actual risk of persecution by the Iranian authorities.
2.4
The author argues that he has exhausted all available domestic remedies. He notes
that decisions by the Refugee Appeals Board of Denmark are not subject to appeal before
national courts, according to section 56 (8) of the Danish Aliens Act. In this regard, he
notes that, in its concluding observations on Denmark’s seventeenth periodic report, the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had recommended that asylum
1
The author does not explain how he left Iraq and arrived in Denmark.
3