Saturday

9th Dec 2023

EU court bars tests for gay asylum seekers

  • Asylum seekers are often runnig for their lives, including LGBTI people (Photo: Agostino Loffredi/Oxfam)

Asylum seekers should not be subjected to psychological tests to determine whether they are homosexual, the EU's top court has ruled.

The European Court of Justice on Thursday (25 January) said that "recourse to a psychologist's expert report in order to determine the sexual orientation of the asylum seeker constitutes an interference with that person's right to respect for his private life".

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The ruling means member states cannot legally impose the use of psychological reports and tests on asylum seekers. The court said such reports were "not essential" to determine the credibility of statements on sexual orientation.

The court said psychological reports were disproportionate to the objective.

"Such interference is particularly serious because it is intended to give an insight into the most intimate aspects of the asylum seeker's life," the court said in a statement.

The case concerned a Nigerian man, referred to only as 'F', who applied for asylum in Hungary in April 2015. He feared persecution in Nigeria for being gay.

Hungarian authorities used a Draw-A-Person-In-The-Rain, Rorschach and Szondi tests to determine F's credibility.

The ECJ said Hungarian officials had not found F's statements to be contradictory, yet had still concluded that F lacked credibility.

F's claim was therefore rejected after a psychologist's report failed to confirm his homosexuality.

Following the ECJ's ruling, a Hungarian court must now reassess his asylum claim.

"An important step against one of the many problems and humiliations LGBTI refugees still face in many EU member states," tweeted Kartin Hugendubel, advocacy director for ILGA, a worldwide organisation campaigning for LGBTI rights.

The Nigerian man in question was represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, an NGO focusing on human rights .

"This marks the end of the outdated and stigmatising psychological testing of asylum seekers," they said in a statement, pointing out that Hungary authorities' preferred method has been using the controversial psychological tests.

There are no official statistics on the number of asylum claims based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the Vienna-based Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) said in a report.

According to the report, NGOs in Europe say that asylum officers tend to have stereotypical views on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Only a few EU countries have specific national guidelines for interviewing LGBTI people during the asylum process.

EU asylum debate reopens old wounds

EU leaders discussed asylum reforms in an effort to reach a consensus by next June, but divisions remain wide as concept of 'solidarity' becomes ever more elusive.

Interview

Gay rights face backlash in Poland

Polish society is becoming more gay-friendly, but anti-gay activists are becoming more radical and the government is doing little to stop it, says gay right activist Agata Chaber.

Gay rights under threat in divided Europe

From same-sex marriage in Malta to horrors in Azerbaijan - survey shows huge disparities on gay rights in Europe, amid "stagnating" progress and populist threats.

EU commission to map gender recognition

The European Commission will start looking at how EU states determine genders - as part of an effort to make it easier for people to determine their own identities.

Opinion

The EU's U-turn on caged farm animals — explained

A European citizens' initiative — signed by 1.4 million people — saw the EU Commission promise to ban cages for 300 million farmed animals. Then the farming lobby got involved.

Opinion

'Pay or okay?' — Facebook & Instagram vs the EU

Since last week, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta corporation is forcing its European users to either accept their intrusive privacy practices — or pay €156 per year to access Facebook and Instagram without tracking advertising.

Latest News

  1. How Moldova is trying to control tuberculosis
  2. Many problems to solve in Dubai — honesty about them is good
  3. Sudanese fleeing violence find no haven in Egypt or EU
  4. How should EU reform the humanitarian aid system?
  5. EU suggests visa-bans on Israeli settlers, following US example
  6. EU ministers prepare for all-night fiscal debate
  7. Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief
  8. Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us