CCPR/C/123/D/2575/2015
Protocol to the Covenant entered into force for Denmark on 23 March 1976. She is
represented by counsel, the Danish Refugee Council.
1.2
On 25 February 2015, pursuant to rule 92 of its rules of procedure, the Committee,
acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures,
requested the State party to refrain from returning the author and her minor son to Italy
while their case was under consideration by the Committee. On 27 February 2015, the
Refugee Appeals Board suspended the time limit for the author’s departure until further
notice.
1.3
On 8 June 2015, the State party submitted that the Danish Immigration Service had
decided on 25 April 2015 to examine the author’s application for asylum and had
consequently suspended her deportation. The State party therefore requested the Committee
to discontinue the examination of the author’s communication. On 3 August 2015, the
author’s counsel accepted the State party’s request for discontinuance as the case had been
reopened by the asylum authorities. On 25 April 2016, the Committee, acting through its
Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures, decided that
consideration of the communication would be suspended, rather than discontinued, while
the asylum proceedings remained pending. On 12 May 2016, the State party transmitted to
the Committee a new request for discontinuance. On 13 May 2016, the Committee
reiterated its decision to suspend the case while the asylum proceedings remained pending.
On 21 June 2016, the State party informed the Committee that both the Danish Immigration
Service and the Refugee Appeals Board had rejected the author’s application for asylum.
On 8 July 2016, the author transmitted to the Committee a request for lifting the suspension
of the case, since her asylum application had been rejected.1
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author is an Eritrean citizen. She fled Eritrea when she refused the call to join
the army for national service, as she did not want to serve the Government. She left Eritrea
illegally and went to the Sudan. Owing to the illegal nature of her departure from the
country and her avoidance of national service, she fears imprisonment and torture or death
if she returns to Eritrea.
2.2
The author arrived by boat in Lampedusa between July and August 2008 after being
apprehended at sea by the Italian coastguard. She was transferred to a reception facility on
the island and consequently registered there as an asylum seeker.
2.3
The author had difficulty in acquiring a residence permit and had to approach the
office of immigration services several times. The reason for this was the requirement for
her to have an address or a job in order to obtain a residence permit. However, after
approximately six months in the asylum centre, the Italian authorities granted the author
subsidiary protection, including a residence permit valid for three years (a permit of stay for
subsidiary protection).
2.4
The author went to Milan, where she sought help from the local authorities. She
received temporary accommodation for one week (she was only allowed to stay in the
building overnight) and tried to find employment, without success. Owing to a lack of
financial resources, she was forced to live in an abandoned building with other refugees and
immigrants in unsafe conditions for approximately one year. She submits that the
environment was unsafe because of drug and alcohol abuse and that the majority of the
people sleeping in the building were men. According to her, the men living there often
came drunk to the women’s sleeping place to try to assault them sexually. She submits that
she experienced daily fights and violence between the inhabitants and on one occasion she
was assaulted sexually when she refused a man, who hit her very hard.
2.5
After one year of living in the abandoned building, the author found an unofficial
job, without a contract and not subject to taxation, in the informal sector. For several years, 2
1
2
2
On 11 April 2017, the State party submitted its observations on the merits, without contesting the
author’s request for lifting the suspension.
The author does not provide more details about the exact duration.
GE.19-07290