CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 20 janvier 2011

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text-indent:-17.85pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s507703F { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify } .s4EEFA931 { margin-top:12pt; margin-left:17pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s127C7598 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:17pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify } .s81CCF55C { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:17pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify } .s48DB3670 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:36pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s7CB9076 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .sDB6B63EE { width:176.94pt; display:inline-block } .s7602FED2 { width:18.21pt; display:inline-block } .sC1AC44A4 { width:228.11pt; display:inline-block }       FIFTH SECTION         CASE OF S.S. AND OTHERS v. DENMARK   (Application no. 54703/08)               JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   20 January 2011   FINAL   20/06/2011   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 (c) of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of S.S. and Others v. Denmark, The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Renate Jaeger, President,   Peer Lorenzen,   Karel Jungwiert,   Rait Maruste,   Mark Villiger,   Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre,   Zdravka Kalaydjieva, judges, and Claudia Westerdiek, Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 14 December 2010, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 54705/08) against the Kingdom of Denmark lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by the Sri Lankan nationals, S.S. and V.S. (“the applicants”), and their two children on 14   November 2008. The acting President of the Chamber decided to grant the applicants anonymity (Rule   47 § 3 of the Rules of Court). 2.     The applicants were represented by Mr Tyge Trier, a lawyer practising in Copenhagen. The Danish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr Thomas Winkler, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and their Co-agent, Mrs Nina Holst-Christensen, the Ministry of Justice. 3.     The applicants alleged that an implementation of the deportation order to return them to Sri Lanka would be in violation of Article 3 of the Convention. 4.     On 17 November 2008, the acting President of the Chamber decided to apply Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, indicating to the Government that it was in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings that the applicants should not be expelled to Sri Lanka pending the Court's decision. On 9 January 2009 the acting President decided to give notice of the application to the Government and granted it priority under Rule 41 of the Rules of Court. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 5.     The applicants were born in Sri Lanka in 1969, 1979, 2000 and 2002 respectively. Currently the applicant husband lives in Germany and the applicant wife lives with the children in an asylum centre in Denmark. 6.     It appears that the applicants married on 30 September 1998 in northern Sri Lanka. 7.     It also appears that they left Sri Lanka separately for Moscow. It is not known exactly when. The applicant husband was in possession of a valid passport with a study visa inserted. The applicant wife was in possession of a valid passport. Reunited, the applicants went to Ukraine and thereafter to Romania, where they were granted asylum in September 2001. Two children were born to them there. In 2002 the applicants attempted to apply for asylum in Switzerland, but apparently, before a decision was taken, they returned voluntarily to Romania. There, at some unknown time, they were issued with Romanian aliens' passports. 8.     On 19   July   2005 the applicants entered Denmark, where the applicant wife's sister and cousin lived. Since they were in possession of Romanian aliens' passports they could enter Denmark without a visa. On 22 July 2005 under section 9a, subsection   1, of the Aliens Act ( udlændingeloven ) they applied for work and residence permits which they were refused on 12   October 2005. The applicants were ordered to leave the country before 15 November 2005. 9.     On 14 November 2005 the applicants requested asylum. 10.     In support thereof, on 14 and 17 November 2005, the applicant wife stated that she and her parents had moved around a lot within Sri Lanka and had lived both in northern and central Sri Lanka and in Colombo. The applicant wife went to school for twelve years after which she worked as a pre-school teacher. Her family was under surveillance by the police because her father and sister were involved with the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). The applicant had also been a member of and worked for the LTTE for two years from 1995 to 1997, when she lived in the north. She told the LTTE that she was unable to take part in their training because she had asthma. They demanded that she work for them and she thus carried out social work and made sure that the children could attend school and that they were provided with food and medicine. The applicant wife's parents did not like this and sent her to Colombo, where she lived at a boarding house for Tamils. In 1997, it appears, she and all the women at the boarding house were detained by the police, suspected of having blown up a bus. They were not provided with anything to eat or drink during the detention. Subsequently, she was arrested and interrogated on several occasions, including by the Criminal Investigation Department and the military. Her father paid for her release and arranged for her to leave Sri Lanka around October 1999. Her case in Sri Lanka was undecided but she remained on a list of suspects. Upon return, the police would reopen her case and that would harm her entire family. She did not want to ruin her children's chances of having an education. 11.     In an asylum registration report of 23 November 2005, the applicant husband stated that he had been a member of the LTTE for three months in 1985, when he was 16 years old. He realised that the organisation was not for him. Thereafter he stayed neutral and was not a member of any political or religious party or organisation. He sold his garage in 1998 in order to leave Sri Lanka, which he did in April 1999. Being unsatisfied with the service in Romania and allegedly having trouble with the mafia there, the family decided to move to Denmark. 12.     In an asylum application of 1 December 2005 the applicant husband stated that he had been a member of the LTTE from 1985 to 1986. Having completed his training, he distributed propaganda for the organisation. He owned a garage at which he repaired cars, minibuses and jeeps. Both the LTTE and the military brought their vehicles and would threaten him to work for only one party. The LTTE also asked him to place a bomb in a military jeep. He refused and was then accused of being an informant. He kept a low profile for a while and sold his garage so that he could leave the country. If returned to Sri Lanka, the LTTE would give him a death sentence. 13.     According to an interview report of 3 July 2006, prepared by the Immigration Service ( Udlændingestyrelsen, now Udlændingeservice ) the applicant husband added, inter alia, that when he was a member of the LTTE in 1985 he trained with them three or four times a week, after school or after lunch breaks. He ended his membership because he wanted to finish training to be a mechanic. The LTTE told him that he could still assist them by putting up posters. He did not always comply with their orders because he was afraid of being caught by the authorities. The latter asked him frequently about the LTTE and its whereabouts and he would tell the authorities that he did not know anything. Nothing further would happen. The applicant husband was never wanted, detained or convicted and he had no criminal record. While working as mechanic, he had both the military and the LTTE as customers. In 1996, he refused a request by the LTTE to place a bomb in a military vehicle. He begged them not to cause any problems for him and eventually they left. In the end he felt so much under pressure and suspicion by both parties that he decided to leave the country. His departure was not triggered by a specific event, rather the general problems with the LTTE and the military forces had become too much. In April or May 1998 he sold his garage. Thereafter he married and in October   1998 he travelled on his own to Colombo with a view to leaving Sri   Lanka. Six months later he left for Moscow. 14.     According to an interview report of 3 July 2006, prepared by the Immigration Service, the applicant wife added, inter alia, that she had lived with her family at a boarding house in Colombo for about a year. Before that she had lived at a refugee camp for Tamils who wanted to go to Colombo. Before that, from 1996 to 1997, she had been a forced member of the LTTE's students' organisation and carried out social work for the LTTE. Her father had also carried out social work. He had not been a member of the LTTE but was accused of being a supporter, which caused problems for the family. Her father was detained once in 1985 or 1986, and in 1998 he was detained many times. The police would come to their home which was situated in an area controlled by LTTE. It was due to their Tamil ethnicity that the family had so many problems with the army. The applicant wife did not know her sister's exact position in LTTE, as she had not been in touch with her for many years, but she assumed that her sister had been a rank-and-file member of the LTTE for four to five years. When the applicant wife was detained in Colombo in connection with the bombing of the bus, she spent half a day at the police station. It was a female suicide bomber wearing sandals who had blown up the bus, and the police therefore checked all girls wearing sandals, including the applicant, who was innocent. Her sister was also arrested in that connection. If returned to Sri   Lanka, the applicant wife feared problems with the Sri Lankan army, which would know that she had been away from her country for five years. She did not want to ruin her children's future and she feared that they would not be able to go to school in Sri Lanka. 15.     By letter of 31 July 2006 the Aliens Authorities requested the Danish Embassy in Bucharest to provide information about the applicants' basis for residence in Romania. By letter of 3 October 2006, the Embassy stated that the applicant husband had been granted refugee status in Romania on 4   September 2001. His residence permit expired on 22 September 2005 and his passport expired on 27 June 2006. A prohibition on his entry into Romania had been issued against him until 16   May   2021. The applicant wife and the oldest child had also been granted refugee status in Romania on 4 September 2001 and been granted unlimited protection on 14 and 24   September 2004, respectively. Their residence permit for Romania expired on 15 September 2005 and the passport expired on 27 June 2006. The youngest child had obtained refugee status in Romania on 5 July 2002. The applicant wife and the two children had a right to stay in Romania even though their residence permit and passport had expired. 16.     On 26 October 2006 the applicants' request for asylum was refused by the Aliens Authorities finding that the applicants' previous connection with LTTE was unknown to the Sri-Lankan authorities and that none of them would face a real and concrete danger of being subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention upon return to Sri Lanka. Thus, they failed to fulfil the criteria under section 7 of the Aliens Act ( Udlændingeloven) to be granted asylum. 17.     The applicants appealed against the decision to the Refugee Appeals Board (Flygtningenævnet) , before which an oral hearing was held on 4   October 2007. The applicant wife stated, among other things, that her father had led a humanitarian organisation which supported the LTTE. Moreover, while being a member of the LTTE's students' organisation she organised annual meetings and made speeches and read out poetry. She was a publicly known person and LTTE supporter. Her speeches were not political but concerned the situation in the country and the people who had given their lives for it. She had no connection with the high-ranking members of the LTTE and she never carried out any military activities for the organisation. After the marriage, her husband ran into problems with the army and they left because he was wanted. 18.     At the same oral hearing before the Refugee Appeals Board, the applicant husband changed his explanation and stated that he had sold his garage already in 1996 and lived in hiding for three years until he left Sri   Lanka. He had to leave because the army knew about his work for the LTTE. At some unknown time, several men from the army had pointed at him and said “tiger” and beaten him. The applicant husband submitted a declaration in English from a lawyer in Sri Lanka of 28 September 2005 to “whom it may concern” stating that the applicant husband was one of several suspected of helping LTTE and that he was “wanted by the Sri   Lankan police and that there was a case pending against him”. The applicant husband explained that the police had come to his home and delivered the letter to his mother. Subsequently, his mother had contacted the said lawyer who had contact with all Singhalese authorities. The lawyer had said that the applicant husband was wanted for a criminal offence related to the abduction of a man who had worked at his garage. The applicant husband was therefore a wanted person in Sri Lanka and would be killed by the authorities upon return. 19.     On 4 October 2007, the Refugee Appeals Board upheld the refusal to grant the applicants asylum. It found that the authorities were not aware of the activities carried out by the applicant wife which ended about two years before her departure. Likewise, it found that the applicant husband's activities had a low profile character. Moreover, having regard to the time that had passed since the activities took place, there was no basis for assuming that the applicants were at risk of persecution upon return. Finally, it found that the applicants' new changed explanations before it lacked credibility and it did not attach any value as evidence to the declaration submitted. 20.     On 25   September 2008 the applicants' request for a residence permit on humanitarian grounds was refused by the Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs ( Ministeriet for flygtninge, indvandrere og integration ). Subsequent events before the Court and domestic proceedings 21.     On 14 November 2008 the Danish Refugee Council ( Dansk Flygtningehjælp ), an NGO, requested the Refugee Appeals Board to reopen the case. It referred to the applicants' previous explanations and the general deterioration of the security situation in Sri Lanka. In addition it alleged that the applicant husband was of interest to the authorities, most recently in connection with a bombing in 2007, and that the same applied to the applicant wife, who was of interest to the authorities due to her extensive activities for the LTTE; her many arrests; her sister's high-profile membership of the LTTE and subsequent television exposure; and her father's and cousin's affiliation with the LTTE. 22.     On 14 November 2008, on the applicants' behalf, the Danish Refugee Council also submitted a letter to the Court of Human Rights requesting that it stay the applicants' deportation. 23.     On 17 November 2008, the Court of Human Rights decided to apply Rule   39 of the Rules of Court, indicating to the Government that it was in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings that the applicants should not be expelled to Sri Lanka pending the Court's decision . 24.     Consequently, on 18 November 2008 the Refugee Appeals Board extended the time-limit for the applicants' departure until further notice. 25.     On 30 March 2009 the Refugee Appeals Board decided to reopen the applicants' asylum case. 26.     By letter of 11 June 2009 the applicants' representative forwarded a CD-ROM to the Refugee Appeals Board with a copy of a television broadcast which allegedly showed that the applicant wife's sister was active with the LTTE as a high-profile “training master”. The representative maintained that in April 2009 the applicant wife had talked to her father in Sri Lanka. 27.     On 16 June 2009 the Refugee Appeals Board decided to suspend the examination of all asylum cases concerning ethnic Tamils from northern Sri   Lanka, including the applicants' case. 28.     On 16 December 2009, on the basis of the most recent background information concerning Sri Lanka including, inter alia, a Memorandum of 26 October 2009 prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Refugee Appeals Board decided to review the suspended cases, including the applicants' case. 29.     The Refugee Appeals Board obtained the files on the applicants from the Romanian and the Swiss authorities. 30.     During a hearing before the Refugee Appeals Board on 19 April 2010 the applicant wife submitted a photograph of a stage performance and explained that she had played before an audience of more than five hundred people at such theatrical events. The play in question concerned the life story of an LTTE member, who was a martyr. The applicant wife believed that there were people present among the audience who informed the Government about the plays. Furthermore, her father had been deeply involved with the LTTE. The applicant wife added that just before her departure in 1999 she was arrested by the criminal police in Colombo, who said that she was to be interviewed again at a different location. Her father bribed the police and four days after, she left the country. The last time the applicant wife had contact with her family was when she spoke to her cousin in 2009. She last spoke to her mother and sister in 2005. The applicant did not know where her family was. The applicant wife showed a video clip from YouTube to the Refugee Appeals Board, allegedly showing her sister with other LTTE members in November   2007. The applicant had last seen her sister in 1997 when they lived at the boarding house in Colombo. The applicant did not know where her sister was. Finally, the applicant wife submitted that in Denmark, she has participated in demonstrations against the hostilities in Sri Lanka. 31.     At the outset of the hearing before the Refugee Appeals Board on 19   April 2010 the applicant husband stated that he was mentally well and capable of being interviewed. He stated that he and his father were attacked by Singhalese in 1983. His father was killed and the applicant sustained an injury to his hand. Moreover, he had inherited the garage from his parents in 1996. The same year the LTTE had asked the applicant husband to place a bomb in a military vehicle. He had refused but hid the bomb in his garage, where it remained even after he sold the garage for about 300,000 rupees in May 1998. He was afraid that the bomb had been discovered and that he was therefore wanted by the authorities. He left Sri Lanka using a false passport with his own picture. The applicant husband had no contact with his family. He last spoke with them in 2007. However, in 2005 and 2007 he received two letters from his mother who stated that the buyer of the garage had informed the authorities about the bomb in the garage and that the secret police sought her out in order to find him. It appears that he submitted the two said letters from his mother, dated 2005 and 2007, alleging that the authorities were looking for the applicant husband. It also appears that the applicant husband submitted yet another declaration from the same lawyer, who had made the declaration in 2005. It was dated 5 December 2007 to “whom it may concern” and stated, inter alia, that the search for the applicant husband “had been intensified by the police, intelligence unit of the Sri-Lankan Army and the parliamentary groups” and that “there were several cases against him for allegedly supporting the LTTE”. 32.     On 19 April 2010, the Refugee Appeals Board refused to reopen the applicants' case. It found that the most recent general background information would not lead to a revised assessment of the case. More specifically in its letter to the applicant's representative it stated as follows: The Refugee Appeals Board finds that the applicants have provided new and/or extended information during the reopened proceedings, and that this gives rise to critical doubt about the credibility of the applicants' information, as there appears to be no reasonable explanation for the late appearance of the information, even in view of the information regarding the applicant husband's mental difficulties, see counsel's pleading of 19 April 2010 with exhibits. The applicant wife has thus stated that the reason why she did not inform the Refugee Appeals Board of her LTTE theatre performances in the previous asylum proceedings was that at the time she was not in possession of the photograph now submitted ... The Refugee Appeals Board finds that this is not a reasonable explanation why she did not, at the beginning of her asylum case, inform the Refugee Appeals Board of the high profile that she now invokes. The applicant wife further stated that, in connection with the arrest where her father paid a bribe for her release, she was the only one arrested and that she was to be questioned again at a different location, and that this arrest was the reason for her departure four or five days later. The Refugee Appeals Board finds that this statement contradicts her statement at the interview of 3 July 2006 as reported by the Danish Immigration Service according to which she was arrested with the sister who now lives in Denmark and that her father paid for the release without any conditions. It appears from her asylum application form that the arrest for which her father paid a bribe took place in 1998. Her departure was in March   1999. The Refugee Appeals Board finds that the applicant wife's statement appears to have been extended on essential points and it only considers it a fact that her father did social or humanitarian work in the local community in his home town ... without being a member of the LTTE, that as a member of the LTTE between 1995 and 1997, the applicant wife also did social work for the LTTE, including distribution of food and medicine, that she lived in various places after 1997, at which time she was exposed to general, brief periods of detention, and that one year prior to her departure she lived in Colombo, from where she departed using her genuine national passport. Moreover, the Refugee Appeals Board noted that the information provided by the applicant wife, that the last time she had contact with her father was in 2005, does not correspond with the information provided by the Danish Refugee Council in its letter of 11 June 2009. The Board further notes that the applicant wife's brief arrests were in the nature of general detention in which several other Tamils were detained by the authorities in connection with situations where the LTTE was considered responsible for specific actions. The applicant wife was released unconditionally every time. She stayed in Colombo for about one year with part of her family before her departure. They were registered with the authorities in Colombo. She departed using her own, genuine nationality passport. At the above interview, the applicant wife stated about her sister in the LTTE that she had been a member of the LTTE for four to five years and that she assumed that her sister was a rank-and-file member, but that she had no contact with her. This statement contradicts the information about the sister provided by the Danish Refugee Council in its letter of 11 June 2009. The applicant husband stated to the Refugee Appeals Board that, contrary to what he stated in 2007, he did in fact own the garage until 1998. He further stated that LTTE left a bomb in his garage, that he hid the bomb there and that that was the reason why he chose to sell the garage ... in May 1998 for 300,000 Sri Lankan rupees. Thereafter, he stayed in various locations until October 1998 when he took up residence in or near Colombo. He did not use his own name and was not registered with the authorities, and in April 1999 he left using a false passport with his picture inserted. The Refugee Appeals Board finds that this statement contradicts the applicant husband's previous statements, including the interview report of 3 July 2006 according to which he stated that he refused to help the LTTE plant the bomb, that the LTTE had eventually left, and that the LTTE as well as people from the Sri Lankan army continued to force him to work for them, that he needed the money but that they did not pay very often, and that he eventually could not stand it and therefore sold his garage in April or May   1998, that he stayed for six months in Colombo before his departure, and that he departed lawfully using his genuine passport in which a study visa had been inserted. In its decision of 4 October 2007, the Refugee Appeals Board rejected the idea that the applicant husband was the subject of a specific search at his mother's house, and on the basis of an assessment of the applicant's statement at the current Refugee Appeals Board hearing, the Refugee Appeals Board does not find that the current statement and the letter from the mother, which dates from 2007, ... [can] lead to a revised assessment. Therefore, concerning the applicant husband, the Refugee Appeals Board only considers it a fact that he sustained an injury to his hand in 1983 in connection with the assault where his father was killed, that he trained with the LTTE for three months in 1985 and subsequently left without problems to continue his education, that he probably inherited the garage from his mother's family in 1996, that he ran the garage, that he sold the garage in 1998 because both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan authorities were pressuring him to work for them, and that thereafter he stayed in various locations, most recently for six months in Colombo before departing from the airport in Colombo in April 1999 using his own name and his own genuine passport. ... As the applicants' statements are assessed, the Refugee Appeals Board thus deems it a conclusive fact that neither applicant stood out at all in March and April   1999. Neither of them was wanted by the Sri Lankan authorities nor did they have any specific conflicts with the authorities. Both departed lawfully. In the assessment of whether, if they were to return to Sri Lanka, including via Colombo, the applicants, who are ethnic Tamils from northern Sri Lanka, would risk persecution or assault as covered by section 7 of the Aliens Act, including treatment as covered by Article 3 of the ECHR, particularly because a video clip exists on YouTube of the applicant wife's younger sister who allegedly was a high-ranking so-called training master in LTTE according to the information received, the Refugee Appeals Board notes that in the sequence shown the person pointed out in the video clip - in part together with others and in part alone - is seen wearing a uniform and carrying weapons and ammunition and agitating for the LTTE's fight. The person in question speaks directly to the camera. The Board notes that there is no other information available about the applicant's younger sister apart from that provided for the case by the applicant wife herself. In this connection, it gives rise to some uncertainty with the Refugee Appeals Board that the applicant wife stated at the hearing that the last times she had contact with her parents was in 2005, but that a cousin told her in a brief telephone conversation in 2009 that the family was staying in M. According to the information from the Danish Refugee Council ...on 11   June 2009, the applicant wife stated that in April   2009 she was contacted by her father who informed her that he was with her sister, but that they would move to M as soon as possible. Even if it is considered a fact that the sister in question is the person pointed out in the video clip on YouTube, the Refugee Appeals Board finds that, in view of the applicants' insignificant profile as described above, their return would not put them at risk of persecution or assault as covered by section 7 of the Aliens Act. This assessment takes into consideration that the applicants departed lawfully from Sri Lanka in 1999 and are now thirty-one and forty years old, respectively. Although the applicants are ethnic Tamils from northern Sri Lanka, neither of them has had specific conflicts with the Sri Lankan authorities and cannot be considered to be wanted or having been wanted previously. In this respect, the Refugee Appeals Board finds that the circumstance that as ethnic Tamils from northern Sri Lanka the applicants may risk being questioned by authorities when entering the country does not lead to a revised assessment of the case in terms of asylum law. In this assessment, consideration has been had to the background information available to the Refugee Appeals Board, from which it appears that the individuals at particular risk of being detained and investigated upon entry in Colombo are young Tamils, men in particular, from northern and eastern Sri Lanka: those without ID; those not resident or employed in Colombo; and those recently returned from the West, see United Kingdom: Home Office, Report of Information Gathering Visit to Colombo, Sri Lanka 23   -29   August   2009. It further appears from the background material available to the Board that, in general, individuals who have previously supported LTTE on a lower level are not of interest to the authorities, see Home Office, Operational Guidance Note, Sri Lanka, August 2009, and Home Office, Report of Information Gathering Visit to Colombo, Sri Lanka 23 - 29 August 2009. Therefore, the Refugee Appeals Board finds that, following an overall assessment of the specific circumstances of the present case, including the specific assessment that must be made according to the Court's decision of 6 August 2008, NA. v. The United Kingdom , the applicants cannot be considered to be in such a position upon return that it justifies asylum. The injury to the applicant husband's little finger on his right hand is found not to lead to another assessment. The circumstance that the applicant wife has participated in demonstrations in Copenhagen as one of several Tamil demonstrators is also found not to lead to another assessment. Accordingly, the applicants are still not entitled to a residence permit under section 7 of the Aliens Act as they, if they return, are not considered to be at risk of persecution that could motivate asylum or of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as covered by section 7, subsection 2 of the Aliens Act ... No time limit for departure is fixed as ...the Court has requested the Danish Government not to return the applicants by force for the time being with reference to Rule 39 of the Rules of Court. If the applicants' basis for lawful residence in Denmark lapses, they must leave Denmark immediately ... If the applicants do not leave voluntarily, they may forcibly be returned to Sri Lanka... 33.     At some unknown time thereafter the applicant husband moved to Germany and obtained a residence permit. II.     RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE A.     Asylum proceedings in Denmark 34.     By virtue of section 7 of the Aliens Act ( Udlændingeloven), asylum is granted to aliens who satisfy the conditions of the Geneva Convention. Applications for asylum are determined in the first instance by the former Aliens Authorities (now called the Immigration Service) and in the second instance by the Refugee Appeals Board. 35.     Pursuant to section 56, subsection 8, of the Aliens Act, decisions by the Refugee Board are final, which means that there is no avenue for appeal against the Board's decisions. Aliens may, however, by virtue of Article 63 of the Danish Constitution ( Grundloven ) bring an appeal before the ordinary courts, which have authority to adjudge on any matter concerning the limits to the competence of a public authority. 36.     By virtue of section 54, subsection 1, second sentence, of the Aliens Act the Refugee Appeals Board itself sees that all facts of a case are brought out and decides on examination of the alien and witnesses and procuring of other evidence. Consequently, the Board is responsible not only for bringing out information on all the specific circumstances of the case, but also for providing the requisite background information, including information on the situation in the asylum-seeker's country of origin or first country of asylum. For this purpose, the Refugee Appeals Board has a comprehensive collection of general background material on the situation in the countries from which Denmark receives asylum ‑ seekers. The material is up-dated and supplemented on a continuous basis. The background material of the Refugee Appeals Board is obtained from various authorities, in particular the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Danish Immigration Service. In addition, background material is procured from various organisations, including the Danish Refugee Council, Amnesty International and other international human rights organisations and the UNHCR. Also included are the annual reports of the US State Department (Country Reports on Human Rights Practices) on the human rights situation in a large number of countries, reports from the British Home Office, reports from the documentation centre of the Canadian Refugee Appeals Board, reports from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, reports from EURASIL (European Union Network for Asylum Practitioners), reports from the authorities of other countries and to some extent articles from identifiable (international) journals. Moreover, the Board may request the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue an opinion on whether it can confirm information from a background memorandum drafted in general terms. The Refugee Appeals Board also retrieves some of its background material from the Internet. Internet access also enables the Board to obtain more specific information in relation to special problems in individual cases. 37.     Usually, the Refugee Appeals Board assigns counsel to the applicant. Board hearings are oral and the applicant is allowed to make a statement and answer questions. The Board decision will normally be served on the applicant immediately after the Board hearing, and at the same time the Chairman will briefly explain the reason for the decision made. III.     RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT SRI LANKA Events occurring after the cessation of hostilities in May   2009 38.     Extensive information about Sri Lanka can be found in NA.   v.   the   United Kingdom , no. 25904/07, §§ 53-83. The information set out below concerns events occurring after the delivery of the said judgment on 17   July 2008 and, in particular, after the cessation of hostilities in May   2009. 39.     Fighting between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE intensified in early 2009, with the army taking a number of rebel strongholds in the north and east of the country. On 19 May 2009, in an address to the country's parliament, the President of Sri Lanka announced the end of hostilities and the death of the leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran. It was also reported that most, if not all, of the LTTE's leadership had been killed. 40.     The previous day, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had estimated that around 220,000 people had already reached internally displaced persons' camps, including 20,000 in the last two or three days. In addition, it was believed that another 40,000-60,000 people were on their way to the camps through the crossing point at Omanthai, in the northern district of Vavuniya. 41.     In July 2009, the South Asia Terrorism Portal reported that the number of killings in Sri Lanka in the previous three years (including deaths of civilians, security forces and members of the LTTE) was: 4,126 in 2006; 4,377 in 2007; 11,144 in 2008 and 15,549 between 1 January 2009 and 15   June 2009. An estimated 75-80,000 people were reported to have been killed in total over the course of the 26 year conflict. 42.     In July 2009, in a “Note on the Applicability of the 2009 Sri Lanka Guidelines”, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) observed that: “Notwithstanding the cessation of the hostilities, the current protection and humanitarian environment in Sri Lanka remains extremely challenging. In the North, nearly the entire population from the territory formerly held by the LTTE in the North (285,000 Tamils) has been confined to heavily militarized camps in the Northern region. Although the government has gradually reduced the military presence in the camps and has pledged to start the progressive return to their villages of origin of the majority of those in the camps, it is clear that this may take a considerable amount of time. The lack of freedom of movement remains the overriding concern for this population restricting its ability to reunite with family members outside the camps, access employment, attend regular schools, and ultimately choose their place of residence.” 43.     A Human Rights Watch [HRW] press release, dated 28 July 2009, reported that: “The government has effectively sealed off the detention camps from outside scrutiny. Human rights organizations, journalists, and other independent observers are not allowed inside, and humanitarian organizations with access have been forced to sign a statement that they will not disclose information about the conditions in the camps without government permission. On several occasions, the government expelled foreign journalists and aid workers who had collected and publicized information about camp conditions, or did not renew their visas.” 44.     A further Human Rights Watch press release dated 26 August 2009 set out concerns that more than 260,000 Tamil civilians remained in detention camps without the freedom to leave. 45.     In August 2009, the first post-war local elections were held in Northern Sri Lanka. The British Broadcasting Corporation reported that voter turn-out was low due to the number of people who were still displaced. The governing party, the United People's Freedom Alliance, took the majority of seats in the biggest city in the region, Jaffna. However, the Tamil National Alliance, a party sympathetic to the defeated LTTE, took the majority of seats in Vavuniya, the other town where polling took place. 46.     On 7 September 2009, James Elder, the official spokesman for the United Nations Children's Fund in Sri Lanka was ordered to leave Sri   Lanka because of adverse remarks that he had made to the media about the plight of Tamils in the government-run camps. 47.     On 10 September 2009 the Sri Lankan Official Government News Portal announced that the motion to extend the State of Emergency ( under which the authorities have extensive anti-terrorism powers and heightened levels of security including checkpoints and road blocks) by a further month had been passed by Parliament with a majority of 87 votes. 48.     In a report dated 22 October 2009, the United States of America State Department published a report entitled “Report to Congress on Incidents During the Recent Conflict in Sri Lanka”, which compiled incidents from January 2009, when the fighting intensified, until the end of May 2009. Without reaching any conclusions as to whether they had occurred or would constitute violations of international law, it set out extensive reports of enforced child soldiers, the killing of captives or combatants trying to surrender, enforced disappearances and severe humanitarian conditions during the hostilities. 49.     On 21 November 2009, the Sri Lankan Government announced its decision that all internally displaced persons would be given freedom of movement and allowed to leave the detention camps from 1   December   2009. 50.     In its Global Appeal 2010-2011, the UNHCR reported that: “The Government-led military operations in northern Sri Lanka which ended in May     2009 displaced some 280,000 people, most of whom fled their homes in the last few months of the fighting. The majority of these internally displaced persons (IDPs) now live in closed camps in Vavuniya district, as well as in camps in Mannar, Jaffna and Trincomalee. An additional 300,000 IDPs, some of whom have been displaced since 1990, are also in need of durable solutions. The IDPs originate mainly from the Mannar, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna districts in northern Sri Lanka, as well as from some areas in the east of the country. Though the end of hostilities has paved the way for the voluntary return of displaced people, some key obstacles to return remain. For instance, many of the areas of return are riddled with mines and unexploded ordnance. Not all are considered to be of high risk, particularly those away from former frontlines, but mine-risk surveys and the demarcation of no-go areas are urgently needed. Other key obstacles to return include the need to re-establish administrative structures in areas formerly held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; the destruction or damaged condition of public infrastructure and private homes; and the breakdown of the economy - including agriculture and fisheries. The Government of Sri Lanka is planning the return framework, and it has called on UNHCR for support with return transport, non-food items, return shelter, livelihoods support and assistance in building the capacity of local authorities. With some progress having been recently achieved, it is hoped that a substantial number of IDPs will be able to return to their places of origin in the latter half of 2009, but a large portion of new IDPs are also likely to remain in the camps and with host families until well into 2010.” 51.     In a Human Rights Report 2009, dated 11 March 2010, the United   States of America State Department stated that the Sri-Lankan Government accepted assistance from NGOs and international actors for the IDP camps but management of the camps and control of assistance