Man who claimed he was targeted over Facebook posts loses challenge over refugee status

Iraqi living in Kurdistan had been critical of government on social media and claimed he would face persecution if repatriated

generic stock news facebook logo facebook app technology business Picture: Pexels

An Iraqi who was refused refugee status after claiming he had been targeted by security services for Facebook posts critical of the Kurdistan government has failed in a High Court challenge to the refusal.

Mr Justice Anthony Barr ruled the International Protection Appeals Tribunal was correct in refusing to grant the 31-year-old refugee status or subsidiary protection.

The man, who lived and worked in a town in Kurdistan as a receptionist and taxi driver, claimed he would face persecution or serious harm if returned to his native country.

In his evidence seeking refugee status, he claimed that after he opened a Facebook account in 2012/13, he made a number of postings which were critical of the Kurdistan regional government, which is the autonomous ruling body of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

He came to the attention of the security services, the Asayish, and was taken in and interrogated about the postings for some time before agreeing to close down the account, which he did while in custody.

He did not place any posts on Facebook for a number of months after his release but then opened a private account, to which only approximately 100 “friends” were given access.

While not posting himself anymore, he would “like” and “share” postings critical of the government made by others on their own social media accounts. 

He also said he had a number of arguments on the street with government supporters.

He did not receive any adverse attention from the authorities from when he was released from custody in 2014 to when he left the country for Ireland in 2018.

The refugee appeals tribunal ruled there was no evidence that individuals who posted material on the internet critical of the government were necessarily targeted by the authorities or their agents.

It also found he had engaged in both public and more private criticism of the government on the internet and in the street after his release in 2014, but had not been the subject of any attention from the authorities in the four years prior to leaving for Ireland.

The man asked the High Court to set aside the tribunal's decision to refuse his application.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Barr said the tribunal gave adequate reasons for its decision.

It had regard to the information he supplied and to the facts on the ground which showed beyond a doubt that he had continued to engage in criticism of the government, albeit on a lesser public level than prior to 2014, and had not received any adverse attention from the authorities.

He said it was therefore entirely reasonable for the tribunal to draw the inference from that state of affairs, he would be unlikely to receive any adverse attention from the authorities if he were to be repatriated now.