CCPR/C/117/D/2464/2014
residence under section 7 of the Aliens Act. The fact that his family had had to leave
Somalia in 1992 as a consequence of its affiliation with Siad Barre2 could not lead to a
different assessment. The majority of the Board’s members emphasized that the incident
had taken place a long time ago and that the author had appeared to be a low-profile
individual. The majority of the Board’s members also observed that the general situation in
Somalia, including in Mogadishu, could not independently justify residence under section
7. Consequently, the majority of the Board’s members found that the author had failed to
substantiate that the conditions of section 7 of the Aliens Act had been satisfied. The author
submits that he has exhausted all available domestic remedies.
The complaint
3.1
The author claims that his forcible return to Somalia would constitute a breach of
article 7 of the Covenant, as he would be at risk of being subjected to torture and to
inhuman or degrading treatment. He also claims he is to be considered a member of a
particular social group within the meaning of article 1 A (2) of the 1951 Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees, as he belongs to the Bagadi minority clan. He refers to
his aunt’s statement to the Refugee Appeals Board that his family had fled from their
village in Somalia to Mogadishu because they had been oppressed by the Al-Hawiye clan,
which had been dominant in the area. This statement is consistent with the background
information available in the 2009 report of the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and
Asylum Research and Documentation on Somali clans.3 According to the report, the Bagadi
clan, which is connected to the Digil clan and belongs to the Rahanweyn group, is
politically oppressed in Somalia.
3.2
The author claims that he has no family left in Somalia. Furthermore, he refers to a
report on Somalia by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) 4 and alleges that it is very difficult to survive in Mogadishu for persons
belonging to minority clans and for newcomers, i.e. “foreign Somalis”, without a support
network. He states he would lack knowledge of how to behave and manage in the country,
from which he fled at the age of five.
3.3
The author further submits that he will be considered an internally displaced person
in the event of his return to Somalia. With reference to a January 2013 report of the Danish
Immigration Service and the organization Landinfo, 5 he adds that children and young
people who are internally displaced persons are considered to be the most vulnerable
groups in Mogadishu in terms of malnutrition and lack of medical treatment. In this respect,
he observes that he contracted tuberculosis during his stay in Greece for which he received
treatment for eight months and that, without proper follow-up care, the illness could come
back. Finally, he submits that in the event of his return to Mogadishu he risks being
subjected to forced recruitment to al-Shabaab.
2
3
4
5
Mohamed Siad Barre was the President of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 1991.
See Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation, “Clans in
Somalia” (December 2009), available from www.ecoi.net/file_upload/90_1261130976_accord-reportclans-in-somalia-revised-edition-20091215.pdf.
“International Protection Considerations with Regard to People Fleeing Southern and Central
Somalia” (January 2014), available from www.refworld.org/pdfid/52d7fc5f4.pdf.
The author refers to “Update on security and human rights issues in South-Central Somalia, including
Mogadishu” (January 2013), available from www.refworld.org/docid/511ca6b12.html.
3