CCPR/C/117/D/2559/2015
Covenant entered into force for Denmark on 23 March 1976. The author is represented by
counsel.
1.2
On 30 January 2015, the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim
measures, acting on behalf of the Committee, requested the State party not to deport the
author to Somalia while his communication was under consideration by the Committee. On
3 February 2015, the Refugee Appeals Board suspended the time limit for the author’s
departure from Denmark until further notice, in accordance with the Committee’s request.
The facts as presented by the author
2.1
The author arrived in Denmark in 1992 with his mother when he was 6 years old. He
was granted a residence permit.
2.2
In August 2001, his mother decided to move the family back to Somalia. She
returned to Denmark in July 2003, however, and became a Danish citizen. When she
returned to Denmark, she was carrying the author’s passport, which was taken by the
Danish authorities. The author wanted to return to Denmark because all his siblings were
there, but he was unable to travel because of the missing passport. For this reason, he lived
with his uncle in Galkayo, Somalia, for five years.
2.3
The author left Somalia in 2010, after members of the militant group Al-Shabaab
contacted him and asked him to join the group. The author submits that refusing
recruitment by Al-Shabaab means risking death and, since he did not want to join the
group, he had to escape from the country as fast as possible for fear of getting killed. The
author submits that he left Somalia illegally through Ethiopia, where he stayed until he
travelled to Denmark without valid travel documents. He arrived in Denmark on
15 February 2013 and applied for residence and asylum.
2.4
On 26 June 2014, the Refugee Appeals Board refused to reopen his case. Instead, the
case was returned to the Danish Immigration Service for an additional review, because
there was new information regarding his fear of Al-Shabaab. On 11 November 2014, the
Service refused to grant to the author a residence permit pursuant to the Danish Aliens Act.
On 14 January 2015, the Board rejected the author’s claim for asylum and protection.
2.5
On 16 January 2015, the Ministry of Justice decided to reject the author’s
application for a humanitarian residence permit pursuant to the Aliens Act, section 9 (b)
(1).
2.6
The author maintains that all domestic remedies have been exhausted and that no
complaint has been submitted before any other international body.
The complaint
3.1
The author submits that he should not be returned to Somalia as there is a real risk
that he will be killed by Al-Shabaab elements. He also submits that several of his friends
have been killed by Al-Shabaab for not cooperating; two of his friends were killed in 2013
and another in 2012 because they did not leave Somalia in time. The author further submits
that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in its
17 June 2014 assessment entitled “UNHCR position on returns to Southern and Central
Somalia”,1 urged States to refrain from forcibly returning any person to areas of Southern
and Central Somalia affected by military action and/or ensuing displacement. Although the
town where the author lived is under the control of the State, Al-Shabaab has terrorized the
inhabitants of that town and its surroundings, especially at night.2 The author maintains that
1
2
2
Available from www.refworld.org/docid/53a04d044.html.
The author refers to the article entitled “5 Somali troops, 7 al-Shabaab fighters killed in Baidoa
attack” (2 January 2015). Available from http://allafrica.com/stories/201501030132.html.