Menschenrechte

The minor applicant, a member of the Hazara ethnic group, illegally immigrated to Austria with her parents and four minor siblings from Afghanistan when she was approximately nine years old. The Federal Asylum Agency of Austria (“FAAA”) denied her and her family’s petitions for asylum. The Asylum Court reversed the denial, finding that the FAAA erred in summarily denying asylum based on the applicant’s statements without considering outside credible reports or sources relevant to the applicant’s asylum claim.

The applicant, a Nigerian woman, fled to avoid female genital mutilation (“FGM”) and sought asylum in Austria. Austria rejected her application for asylum and she appealed, arguing under Article 3 of the Convention that she ran the risk of being forced to undergo FGM if she expelled to Nigeria. The Federal Asylum Office and the Asylum Court rejected her application. They reasoned that she could have sought the state’s protection and due to her age (she was born in 1973), education, and work experience she should have been able to live safely in other parts of Nigeria on her own.