Somali man wins refugee challenge

A Somali who claimed he was kidnapped, tortured and subjected to forced labour in his home country has won a challenge in the High Court against a decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal not to declare him a refugee.

In a reserved judgment, Ms Justice Mary Faherty quashed the decision and transferred the case to the tribunal for a new hearing.

Judge Faherty said the man, who is in his 30s and cannot be identified for legal reasons, claimed to be a member of the Reer Xamar clan in Southern Somalia. He claimed that during the Somalian Civil War, his family were persecuted by another clan on grounds of race and ethnicity. His father and two brothers were killed; his sister kidnapped and forced into marriage; and two other brothers had disappeared.