Man who claims he fled Nigeria after homophobic attack wins appeal against deportation
A man who claimed he fled Nigeria after an attack by homophobes has won a High Court appeal against a decision refusing him refugee status and international protection.
The man, who is middle-aged and unmarried, says he is heterosexual but the attackers believed he and his housemates in his Nigerian apartment were homosexuals.
He came to Ireland by an apparently circuitous route which he could not recall all the details of. He applied for asylum but was refused a refugee declaration and a declaration of subsidiary protection which can apply when a person does not qualify as a refugee.
The International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) rejected his application and he brought High Court judicial review proceedings.
Mr Justice Max Barrett rejected his claim the IPAT decision lacked clarity or was vague.
However, he found the IPAT engaged in conjecture in the evaluation of the man's evidence and that it drew unreasonable inferences from it.
It also failed to take into account any or adequate regard of his explanations for events and his actions and took into account irrelevant considerations in assessing credibility.
It also made unreasonable findings based on unfounded assumptions or pre-conceptions as opposed to being based on objective evidence, the judge said.
