4
H.S. AND OTHERS v. CYPRUS JUDGMENT
Status of Refugees (hereafter “the 1951 Geneva Convention”) in that he had
not shown that he had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of
race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular group or political
opinion or a well-founded fear of serious and unjustified harm for other
reasons. The Asylum Service considered that there was no possibility of the
applicant being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment if returned to
Syria. The Asylum Service noted that there had been significant
discrepancies and inaccuracies in his account of the facts on which his
allegations of persecution were based. It held that the applicant’s allegations
had been unfounded and had not been credible.
21. On 9 July 2009 the applicant lodged an appeal with the Reviewing
Authority against the Asylum Service’s decision.
22. In the copies of the records of the Civil Registry and Migration
Department it was noted on 3 March 2010 that in accordance with
instructions given by Minister of the Interior on 9 February 2010, if the
applicant was traced, the possibility of granting him a special residence
permit should be examined before deporting him. Deportation should take
place only if the applicant was involved in illegal activities.
23. On 23 April 2010 the Asylum Service’s decision was upheld and the
appeal dismissed.
24. The Reviewing Authority pointed to contradictions in the applicant’s
claims and held, having regard to all the information and evidence available,
that they were unsubstantiated. It noted that the applicant had given two
different reasons for which the Head of Security Forces had allegedly
threated him with imprisonment. Furthermore, although he initially claimed
that the Security forces and the authorities were falsely accusing him of
participating in the Qamishli events, he then stated that he had actually
participated but was not able to give accurate information concerning these
events. Furthermore, the events complained of had happened in 2004
whereas he had left Syria legally in 2008 and he did not allege that during
this period he was persecuted by the authorities because of his alleged
participation. He was also able to leave Syria legally. The Reviewing
Authority further stressed that his claims concerning ill-treatment were
incoherent and that the applicant had not been able to describe in any detail
the treatment he had been allegedly subjected to. Lastly, in reply to the
applicant’s claims before it that he had been subjected to persecution
because of his Kurdish origin, the Reviewing Authority observed that the
applicant had not applied for asylum on this basis. In any event, it stressed
that there was no indication that he had been subjected to any kind of
discrimination on the ground of his origin.
25. The Reviewing Authority concluded by observing that the applicant
had not established that he was at risk of persecution if he returned to Syria.
Nor did he satisfy the conditions for temporary residence on humanitarian
grounds.