Court of The Hague [Rechtbank Den Haag], Applicant (2) v State Secretary for Justice and Security (Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid), NL21.10059, ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2022:11904, 09 November 2022 [Netherlands]

Abstract

The case concerned a minor applicant from Iran who claimed that she would be at risk of persecution due to her alleged sexual orientation. Her statements regarding her identity and religious beliefs were found credible, however the State Secretary did not find it plausible the sexual orientation of the applicant and the alleged problems due to photo sharing with classmates. The application as rejected as manifestly unfounded.

The applicant appealed against the negative decision and claimed that the time lapsed between her detailed interview and the negative decision was too long and that she did not substantiate on her sexual orientation due to her young age and of being at the initial phase of the process of awareness regarding her sexual orientation. The Court of the Hague seated in Rotterdam rejected the appeal and considered that the applicant, who was almost 18 years old at the timer of the detailed interview, was mature enough to have a good representation of facts and that she failed to answers to questions on the interview and to provide sufficient information. The court stated that the time lapsed between the interview and the decision was not so long as for a further interview to be necessary and noted that the statements of the applicant were insufficient and not credible regrading her sexual orientation.