The applicant, a Senegalese national, applied for international protection in Italy based on allegations that a return to the country of origin would expose him to persecution and violence as a young talibé. He also based his request on a vulnerability situation, having fled from  Senegal when he was just 18 years old, having lost all contact with his relatives while attending the coranic school (o daaras) and having suffered physical and psychological trauma during the period he spent in the daaras – by the hands of the marabout, who forced him to go to work in the fields and beg, beating him or leaving him without food or water if he was unable to scrape the amount he was asked for – and in transit to Italy, during the period he spent in Libya. The territorial Commission rejected his request of international protection, considering his statements not coherent and not credible. The applicant further  appealed the decision and the Tribunal in Rome assessed the internal and external consistency of the applicant's story (according to the COI sources about the talibés and their treatment by marabouts in some daaras), but it rejected the request of refugee status claiming that the danger of persecution for the applicant is no longer current because of his age, so that in case of return to the country of origin he would no longer be subject either to the authority of the marabout or to that of his father who had forced him to attend the daaras. For the same reason the Tribunal has also rejected the request of subsidiary protection according to art. 14 (a) and (b) Decreto Legislativo  251/2007.

With reference to the hypothesis set out in Article 14(c) Decreto Legislative  251/2007, to verify the existence of an "alleged serious and individual threat to a civilian’s life as a result of indiscriminate violence in situations of internal or international armed conflict", the Tribunal analysed an objective criterion related to the applicant's area of origin or the whole country and, based on recent country of origin information, it rejected the appeal stating that most recent reports show there is no indiscriminate violence in Senegal.

The tribunal further analysed if the applicant could be granted special protection based on Legislative Decree No 286/98 as modified by the Legislative Decree  130/2020. The renewed article 19 par. 1.1 refers to the application of the non-refoulement principle and the interdiction to return a person who risks a violation of his/her right to the private and family life. In order to assess this risk, account must be taken of the nature and effectiveness of the family ties of the person concerned, his effective social integration in Italy, the duration of his stay in the national territory and the existence of family, cultural or social ties with his country of origin. On the base of this provision, the Tribunal granted the special protection, taking into account that: he applicant has arrived in Italy five years ago; his brother is also living in Italy; he is no longer in contact with his family in Senegal who abandoned him when he was still very young; he arrived in Italy when he was just over 18 years old and, despite his traumatic experiences, he started a path of labour integration as documented.

The court found that the appellant's conviction as smuggler was not relevant to this decision, as a suspended sentence was granted to him due to his young age, his cooperative attitude during the trial and his lack of criminal record.