A reflection on the European Court of Human Rights' case law regarding the asylum application of Iranian citizens

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 department of law, Maragheh Branch, Islamic Azad University

2 Department of law, Azaebaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz ,Iran.

3 Assistant professor, NSTRI

4 a

Abstract

The European system of human rights in the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights and the ECHR has played an undisputed role in the protection of asylum seekers and refugees. The Court, as the oversight mechanism of the Convention, has accepted the filing of lawsuits by non-Eu nationals against Eu States Parties to the Convention. In the meantime, several lawsuits have been filed by Iranian asylum seekers against European countries on three issues: religious freedom, sexual freedom and political freedom. Iranian asylum seekers mainly claim that they will face punishment if they are returned to Iran, which is contrary to the obligations of European countries under Article 3 of the Convention. The key question is what was the Court's approach to these causes of asylum? This article, in order to evaluate the Court's case law in the development and growth of asylum law, with an explanatory-analytical review and library method, shows that the Court accept a very low threshold to prove apostasy for Iranians. While having abnormal sexual behaviors due to the practical tolerance of the Iranian government in imposing punishment, in most cases has not been accepted as a reason for granting asylum. Political reasons have been less considered and accepted by the Court, mainly due to the superficial nature of the documents submitted by the applicants.

Keywords

References

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    Case law

    F.G. v. Sweden, Application no. 43611/11, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 23 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,56fd485a4.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    hmadpour v. Turkey, Application no. 12717/08, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 15 June 2010, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,4c179ffa2.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    M.B. and Others v. Turkey, Application no. 36009/08, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 15 June 2010, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,4c17a13f2.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    Z.N.S. v. Turkey, Application no. 21896/08, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 19 January 2010, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,4b56d5cf2.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    Ayegh v. Sweden, 4701/05, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 7 November 2006, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,45d5c67e2.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    1. v. United Kingdom, Application no. 17341/03, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 22 June 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,4ee21ffd2.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    O.M. v. Hungary, Application no. 9912/15, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 5 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,577b7dcf4.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    RANA v. HUNGARY (Application no. 40888/17), Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 16 July 2020, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,5f11a1f90.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    Abdolkhani and Karimnia v. Turkey, Appl. No. 30471/08, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 22 September 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,4ab8a1a42.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    Bagheri and Maliki v. The Netherlands, 30164/06, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 15 May 2007, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,46a872e62.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    Panjeheighalehei v. Denmark, Application no. 11230/07, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 13 October 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,4afae3022.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    Isfahani v. the Netherlands, Appl. No. 31252/03, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 31 January 2008, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,47c6727d2.html [accessed 3 June 2021]

    A.E. V. Finland, Application no. 30953/11, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 22 September 2015, available at: https://www.sogica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/A.E.-v.-FINLAND.pdf[accessed 3 June 2021]

     

    Reports

    UNHCR/Forough Jahandari, Statelessness in Iran, Country Position Paper November 2, https://statelessjourneys.org/wp-content/uploads/StatelessJourneys-Iran-final.pdf

    European Court of Human Rights, Research Division,Overview of The Court’s Case-Law On Freedom of Religion,2013. https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/research_report_religion_eng.pdf

    European Court of Human Rights, Information Note on the Court’s case-law, No. 194, March 2016. https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/CLIN_2016_03_194_ENG.pdf

    International Migration Law Unit (2014) International Migration Law Information Note.

     

    Web Sites:

    https://www.refworld.org/country,,ECHR,CASELAW,IRN,,,,0.html#SRTop51. [accessed 30 Feb 2022]

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