A gay Nigerian man has been refused asylum in Ireland by the High Court for insufficient evidence

A gay Nigerian man, who can not be identified, has lost an action in the High Court that he made after he was denied asylum in Ireland by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. Allegedly, the man was persecuted by Islamic extremists in his home country because of his sexuality.

The man claims that both his mother and his male partner were killed when an angry mob set both houses on fire after a crowd started an Islamic chant and began to throw stones at his window while he was having sex with his partner.

After this incident, the man fled the country, travelling through Libya by road and then by sea to arrive in Ireland where he applied for asylum. He was not granted the asylum at this point, which is when he appealed the decision with the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.

This appeal was rejected before the man took his case to the High Court to review his application for asylum.

Lacking Evidence

Justice Carmel Stewart has said that the tribunal found it difficult to believe that the man had held hands with his male partner, or engaged in public displays of affection with him in an area of Nigeria that is governed by Sharia law – under Sharia law, homosexuals can be killed by being stoned to death.

She also said that the asylum seeker’s belief that his mother was killed in a fire was conjecture, and that no evidence of either his mother’s nor his partner’s death had been given to the tribunal.

In Nigeria, homosexuality is criminalised by law with offenders facing up to 14 years imprisonment.

The task of this tribunal was thus to ascertain whether the man was gay but, even with a letter from an LGBT organisation, they didn’t believe there was enough evidence to establish that he was gay.