The High Court has dismissed a judicial review application challenging a decision to uphold the refusal of refugee status to a Nigerian child born in Ireland. Mr Justice Eagar ruled that the tribunal’s credibility assessment was appropriately made and refused the requested order of certiorari.
The application sought to quash the Refugee Appeals Tribunal’s 2010 decision and have the child’s appeal reconsidered by a different tribunal member. It was heard as a “telescoped” application. The court refused that relief and dismissed the application; the judgment does not make a fresh determination of the child’s refugee claim.
The child’s claim concerned an alleged risk of forced female genital mutilation by her paternal family if returned to Nigeria. Her mother said the pressure came from the child’s father’s family, particularly the paternal grandmother, and that she had previously taken an older daughter away to prevent the procedure. The mother said the grandmother had died but had wanted the children to undergo it, and that she was unsure whether the father would support it in Nigeria. The mother also referred to possible action by Nigerian authorities because she and her husband were fugitives. These were claims described in the judgment, not findings by the High Court.
The Refugee Appeals Tribunal had rejected the claim as not credible, relying in part on the mother continuing to live with the father while expressing uncertainty about his intentions. The judgment records that the tribunal also referred to the mother’s own refugee claim, based on alleged links to MASSOB, which had been found not credible. The tribunal stated that the child’s claim was based on the mother’s claim and that the FGM aspect was also not credible.
For the applicant, counsel argued that the tribunal had relied on credibility without considering state protection, internal relocation or country-of-origin information. The respondents’ counsel argued that such examination was unnecessary after the finding that the claim lacked subjective credibility.
Justice Eagar said he had considered the credibility findings in light of the High Court judgment in I.R. v. Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform [2009] IEHC 353. He was satisfied that the administrative decision-maker had appropriately made the credibility decision. The application was therefore dismissed.