Italy: Subsidiary protection granted to Senegalese child rights activists due to the lack of protection by national authorities

Date: 
Monday, May 25, 2020

On 25 May 2020, the Tribunal of Genoa published its judgment concerning the recognition of subsidiary protection to a Senegalese citizen on the basis of the real risk of torture and inhuman treatment as a result of his activism for the promotion of children’s rights in traditional Quranic schools Daarra.

The applicant claimed that he left Senegal in 2015 after having been kidnapped by some exponents of the Murideiyya society, openly against his activity for the promotion of children’s rights. The Territorial Commission rejected the application, considering the story to be too vague and generic.
 
On appeal, the Tribunal of Genoa found that the applicant was able to dispel doubts in his story, including the relationship between the different local communities in Mbour and how he developed ideas which differed from the local tradition due his work as a tourist guide and his regular contacts with international visitors. The Tribunal considered the applicant to be credible and found that his return to the country of origin could not be considered safe as the Senegalese authorities already failed once to protect him from inhuman treatment. For these reasons, the applicant was granted subsidiary protection.

Many thanks to Francesca Zalambani, legal assistant at ECRE, for assisting the EWLU team with this summary. Based on an unofficial translation by the EWLU team. Photo: Matthias Ripp, January 2016, Flickr (CC)


This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the ELENA Weekly Legal Update. The purpose of these updates is to inform asylum lawyers and legal organizations supporting asylum seekers and refugees of recent developments in the field of asylum law. Please note that the information provided is taken from publicly available information on the internet. Every reasonable effort is made to make the content accurate and up to date at the time each item is published but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE.                               

Keywords: 
Actors of protection
Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Subsidiary Protection