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The Ombudsman against Discrimination on grounds of Sexual Orientation has ceased to exist. On 1 January 2009 the Ombudsman was merged with the other Ombudsmen against discrimination into a new body: the Swedish Equality Ombudsman. The previously existing acts against discrimination were also replaced with a new Discrimination Act. Some of the material on this website may therefore be out of date. For more information, see: www.do.se
Migration – Asylum – Indirect Discrimination A gay man seeking asylum complained to the Ombudsman that the National Migration Board had refused to re-schedule his interview so that his new attorney could be present. The Ombudsman in his decision took note of the fact that the complainant’s interview date had been set in agreement with the complainant’s first attorney but held that although there is no absolute right to have an interview re-scheduled, the Board had failed to show any compelling interest in not granting the request. The complainant had made it clear that the presence of his new attorney was a condition for him to feel safe enough to freely tell his story. The Board’s own guidelines for dealing with applications from gays and lesbians from countries where there is a strong taboo against talking about homosexuality underline the importance of flexibility from standard procedures in order for applicants to feel safe in the interview situation. These guidelines had not been respected in this case. The apparently neutral standard procedure had a disproportionate impact on the complainant compared to other asylum seekers because of his sexual orientation. The Ombudsman therefore held that the treatment of the complainant had amounted to indirect discrimination, for which the Board deserved to be criticised. (Decision 2 November 2004, Dossier no. 291/04) |
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HomO | Box 3327, 103 66 Stockholm | E-mail: homo@homo.se | Phone: +46 (0)8 508 887 80 | Fax: +46 (0)8 508 887 90 |
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