UK to pay Cameroonian asylum seeker 15m

Rights organisations say this development is a major milestone that heralds a new approach by the UK Home Office in the handling of asylum applications

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

An occurrence in the UK, where asylum applications and especially those from Cameroonians are almost always summarily rejected on grounds of deficient and/or incoherent evidence, may henceforth change the future of the issuance process for good.

A female Cameroonian asylum seeker is set to bag 15 million FCFA in damages, a UK court has ruled. It said the lady, not named, fled torture and rape from her native Cameroon and arrived in the UK in 2006 but was directly detained. Her several applications for asylum were rejected, as well as ensuing appeals and she was listed for repatriation in January 2007.

But the measure was stayed as pressure for her release from a detention centre mounted from rights groups. Others called on the UK immigration Home Office to grant her refugee-status to no avail. And then last month, it was decided that her case be reviewed. Fortunately, it emerged that her detention since 2006 was illegal as apt medical examinations to verify her claims of torture and rape in the hands of Cameroonian gendarmes and a prison guard were never conducted.

The Guardian said Monday that details of the reviewed case were published only last Friday, indicating that the 15 million FCFA was to cover damages for the period the woman was held unlawfully.

The UK-based Women Against Rape (WAR) described the ruling Friday as «a fantastic victory and sets a crucial precedent for many other women in detention…» The organisation noted that many women, some with kids, have had similar asylum cases fast-tracked and been detained, denied legal representation, medical and other expert help.