A Kosovan man who claims he will be in danger if he is sent home has won a High Court order quashing a decision refusing him refugee status.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the case should be returned to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal to be reheard arising from its failure to consider medical reports to back up the man’s claim that he was shot in the leg by Albanians.
The man had claimed he was shot outside his home in Kosovo in March 2004 because he was a member of the minority gypsy Ashkali ethnic group. The tribunal rejected his appeal against a refusal to grant him asylum after it deemed his account of the shooting was implausible.
He appealed to the High Court claiming the tribunal had failed to afford him fair procedures in not allowing him provide a medical report in relation to his injury from the shooting.
Mr Justice McDermott said yesterday he was satisfied the tribunal acted in breach of fair procedures by making a decision on the case before expiration of a period allowed for the furnishing of medical reports by the man. The tribunal had indicated it would consider the reports before reaching its decision, he noted.