BY Ada Igboanugo
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that asylum seekers must not be subjected to psychological tests to determine whether they are homosexual.
The court deemed tests to determine if asylum seekers are gay controversial.
In April 2015, a Nigerian man who submitted an asylum application in Hungary fell victim to such a case.
He had left Nigeria fearing persecution for being gay but his request was rejected after a psychologist’s report failed to confirm his homosexuality.
The court’s ruling, binding in all 28 EU states, means that EU countries now have no legal right to impose psychological tests to determine an asylum seeker’s sexuality.
The ECJ said even though “certain forms of expert reports may prove useful,” such reports interfered with a person’s privacy.
The Nigerian man’s case will now be reconsidered by a court in Szeged, Hungary, following the ECJ ruling.
In 2013, the ECJ ruled that asylum could be granted in cases where people were actually jailed for homosexuality in their home country.
According to reports by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, homosexuals fearing persecution in Africa, the Middle East and Chechnya often sought asylum in the EU.
Homosexuality is illegal in African countries like Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Botswana.
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