CCPR/C/116/D/2409/2014
children: Ali Abdilafir Abubakar (2 years old at the time the communication was submitted)
and Abdi Rahman Abdilafir Abubakar Ali (6 months at the time the communication was
submitted).1 The authors and their children are subject to deportation to Italy, following the
Danish authorities’ rejection of their application for refugee status in Denmark. The authors
claim that, by forcibly deporting them and their children to Italy, Denmark would violate
their rights under article 7 of the Covenant. The authors are represented by the Danish
Refugee Council. The Optional Protocol entered into force for Denmark on 23 March 1976.
1.2
On 2 June 2014, pursuant to rule 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the
Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim
measures, requested the State party not to deport the authors and their children to Italy
while their case was under consideration by the Committee.
1.3
On 4 February 2015, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new
communications and interim measures, denied the State party’s request to lift the interim
measures.
Factual background
2.1
The authors are from Mogadishu. They are Muslim and belong to the Hawie clan.
Having received threats from Al-Shabaab, they fled Somalia to Libya, where they met
while in detention for having entered the country illegally. They therefore submitted their
claim for refugee status separately and on different grounds. Abubakar Ali fled to Libya in
2008. His brother was a soldier in the Somali army and was killed by Al-Shabaab in 2007.
Following the killing of his brother, Abubakar Ali was threatened by Al-Shabaab because
he was suspected of being a spy for the Government. Mayul Ali Mohamad fled to Libya
after having given an interview on the radio early in 2009, in which she stated that her
brother and her then husband had been killed by Al-Shabaab because they used to work for
the Government. Mayul Ali Mohamad claims that after the interview Al-Shabaab members
repeatedly threatened her and looked for her at her home.
2.2
The authors were detained in Libya for one year approximately, during which time
Mayul Ali Mohamad gave birth to a girl. In 2011, the authors travelled by boat to Italy.
During the trip, they were separated and their daughter drowned.2 The authors applied for
asylum in Italy in April and June 2011 respectively. Once in Italy, they reunited and lived
together in an asylum centre. There, they were given food by charities, in particular a
church. On 21 December 2011, Mayul Ali Mohamad gave birth to their son Ali Abdilafir
Abubakar in a hospital in Italy. The baby was not well, but the authors allege that no one
listened to them or attended to them when they asked for medical assistance.
2.3
While still in the asylum centre, the authors received a temporary residence permit.
As they do not speak Italian, they did not understand for how long the permit would be
valid. In January 2012, they were asked to leave the asylum centre. They lived in the streets
for approximately four months, from January to June 2012. They were not offered any
assistance to find shelter, permanent housing or work, and they lost their residence permits. 3
They slept in train stations with their son and received food from churches. The health of
their newborn son deteriorated because of a congenital heart defect that had not yet been
1
2
3
2
No precise date of birth was provided for the authors.
According to the source, Mayul Ali Mohamad travelled with her daughter, but the girl drowned and
died.
In its decision of 7 October 2013, the Refugee Appeals Board indicates that Abubakar Ali was in
possession of a valid residence permit for Italy upon his arrival in Denmark; however, the expiration
date of the residence permit is not provided. The Board also indicates that Mayul Ali Mohamad
informed the Danish authorities that she lost her temporary residence permit while she was living in
the streets in Rome.
GE.16-10042