Germany – Augsburg Administrative Court rules in a case of Dublin transfer of a pregnant asylum-seeker

Date: 
Friday, November 2, 2018

On 2 November, the Augsburg Administrative Court ruled in a case concerning the transfer of a pregnant asylum-seeker back to Italy, under the Dublin Regulation.

The case concerned a Nigerian woman, whose asylum claim had been rejected at two instances in Italy. After travelling to Germany, she applied for asylum but her application was deemed inadmissible, due to Italy being the Member State responsible for her asylum request. An order to transfer the applicant back to Italy was issued by the German authorities. She brought an action before the Augsburg Administrative Court against that order, also requesting provisional measures to suspend her deportation to Italy.

The Court heavily relied on the Tarakhel judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, to note that there are no individual guarantees in this case, that could possibly render the transfer of the applicant to Italy lawful. Moreover, it emphasised that the Tarakhel principles should be observed even more rigorously in the case of a single mother, as confirmed by the jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court. The Court also cited recent country reports on Italy, to affirm that there is no reason for it to deviate from established case law.

Lastly, the fact that the pregnancy was imminent also presented a domestic obstacle to the applicant’s transfer, as national legislation precludes the enforcement of a deportation order for a period that begins six weeks before the birth and ends eight weeks after the birth. The provisional measures were granted and the suspension of the order was decided.

Based on an unofficial translation by the ELENA Weekly Legal Update.


This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the weekly ELENA legal update. The purpose of these updates is to inform asylum lawyers and legal organizations supporting asylum seekers and refugees of recent developments in the field of asylum law. Please note that the information provided is taken from publicly available information on the internet. Every reasonable effort is made to make the content accurate and up to date at the time each item is published but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE.                                                 

 

Keywords: 
Dublin Transfer
Vulnerable person