THE FIVE-year-old son of a couple who are members of a Roma group in Serbia has secured leave from the High Court to challenge a decision refusing him refugee status.
Erlandino Doda was born in Ireland in June 2006.
Through his father, Gjovalin Doda, he had challenged the decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal to recommend that he be refused refugee status.
The child’s parents are Albanian speakers from Serbia.
They are members of the Ashkali ethnic group and regarded as Roma in their country of origin.
Yesterday, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said an application for refugee status was made on behalf of the child on May 1st, 2008.
The Refugee Applications Commissioner recommended the application be rejected on June 12th, 2008.
That recommendation was appealed to the appeals tribunal.
At the appeal, extensive country of origin information was submitted to support claims of extremely severe discrimination against members of the Roma ethnic group in Serbia and of a systemic failure by the Serbian government to eradicate such discrimination.
It was argued the effect of the alleged discrimination included a high mortality rate among Roma children, lack of protection against physical attacks, exposure to ethnically-motivated attacks and abuse, inhuman and degrading living conditions, abject poverty, an inability to obtain identification documents leading to a deprivation of access to all services, lack of access to schools, deprivation for healthcare; and lack of access to housing and employment.
In November 2009, the tribunal upheld the recommendation to refuse refugee status, the judge said.
The appeal tribunal member was not persuaded the discrimination which the child might suffer if returned to Serbia would rise “to the level of persecution”.
Ms Justice Dunne ruled the child had established the required substantial grounds to challenge the decision of the tribunal member in relation to whether, and in what circumstances, the cumulative effect of discrimination can amount to a well-founded fear of persecution.