Albanian man refused refugee status over 'blood feud' story inconsistencies

High Court reporters

An Albanian man who fled what he claimed was a murderous "blood feud" involving his family has been refused refugee status here after the State found "inconsistencies" in his application, the High Court has ruled.

The man (24) launched a legal challenge seeking to quash a May 2024 decision of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal rejecting his refugee application on grounds of credibility regarding the existence of the blood feud in Tirana between his family and another family.

The applicant's case was that in January 1997, a man murdered his paternal uncle, who had the same name as the applicant, over a land dispute.

He claimed that another uncle of his then took revenge by murdering the killer's brother in 2001.

He submitted that the feud lay dormant until a fresh dispute arose in October 2022, leading to a death threat against him.

He said he left Albania the next month and travelled by boat to Italy, spending five months there working in construction until he made enough money to travel and ultimately came to Ireland by truck, having travelled through France.

The man applied for international protection here in May 2023. His case was that if returned to Albania, he would be the subject of attempted murder by the rival family.

The International Protection Officer (IPO) recommended the refusal of refugee status on the basis that he did not accept the credibility of the applicant’s claim to be the target of a "blood feud".

The IPO's refusal was based on the man's interview over questions about his knowledge of the claimed blood feud. The answers were found to be inconsistent with earlier statements, where he had claimed he did not know anything about the feud and that his family's silence was an effort to spare him from it.

The applicant's later evidence was that his family had not told him about the conflict until he was targeted in 2022, but once he was targeted, his family had "of course" told him what was happening.

The IPO's refusal held the view that this inconsistency was undermining the credibility of the claim.

The IPO also took the view that the 21-year period between the killing committed by the man's uncle in 2001 and the 2022 threat against the applicant suggested that the killing was one of "revenge" and was not a "blood feud", as claimed.

It was also noted that the applicant had not sought international protection while living in Italy for five months and that he had claimed it would not have been safe for him to seek protection there because of its proximity to Albania.

The tribunal noted that he had stayed in Italy for those months without him claiming any attack or threat.

The applicant's case to the High Court was that the May 2024 appeal tribunal erred in refusing to grant him an oral hearing, breaching fair procedures.

In a judgment rejecting the challenge, Mr Justice Cian Ferriter said the appeal tribunal was capable of objectively assessing the matter on papers submitted and had not erred in refusing an oral hearing.

He said the refusal was supported by the applicant’s inconsistent story "on its own terms", which was "not plausible".