Rechtbank Den Haag (District Court of the Hague), Judgment of 25 May 2018, NL17.12618
- Category: Case Law
- Source: National Authorities
- Subject: Gender Identity, Refugee/Asylum, Human Rights, LGBT+
- Place: Europe
- Year: 2018
- URL: https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2018:6308
Rechtbank Den Haag (District Court of the Hague), Judgment of 25 May 2018, published on 30 May 2018, NL17.12618, ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2018:6308
Summary
Netherlands: national authorities failed to examine if transgender woman could receive protection against persecution in Colombia
On 25 May 2018, the District Court of the Hague, sitting in Roermond, ruled on case NL17.12618, which concerned a transgender woman from Colombia whose asylum application had been rejected by the national authorities. She argued that she had been arrested, beaten, extorted and sexually abused by the police in relation to her involvement with prostitution; that she had been attacked and was sought after by a member of an ex-guerrilla group, and that she had experienced discrimination as a transgender and feared being attacked without being able to access state protection.
The Court ruled that stating that measures being taken by the Colombian government to improve the situation of LGBTI people are not enough to refute the applicant’s concerns regarding a lack of protection for transgender people in Colombia. It is necessary to assess if legal measures aimed at improving the situation of LGBTI people have led to a change in practice. Since the applicant had substantiated her claims with numerous reports that indicate, inter alia, that Colombia has a high number of homicides of transgender people and that they face considerable obstacles when accessing public services, it was up to the national authorities to refute this claim based on specific, up-to-date information.
Therefore, the Court concluded that the national authorities had erred in finding that the applicant could rely on the general protection afforded by the Colombian authorities, when no up-to-date report on the situation of LGBTI people in Colombia allows for the conclusion that the improvements mentioned by the authorities led to a positive change in practice. The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) has appealed against this decision, which is now pending.
Based on an unofficial translation by the ELENA Weekly Legal Update. [Source: ELENA Weekly Legal Update – 6 July 2018]