The applicant is a Gambian national who requested international protection in Iceland in 2022. A search of the EURODAC database indicated that the applicant had been registered by the Italian authorities in 2019.  On 24 January 2022, the Directorate of Immigration sent a take back request to the Italian authorities in respect of the applicant which was accepted on 28 January 2022. The applicant was invited for an interview with the Directorate of Immigration on 4 April 2022, following which the Directorate of Immigration issued a decision stating that the applicant’s request for international protection would not be examined in Iceland and that he would be transferred to Italy where the applicant’s request could be examined. The applicant appealed this decision on 12 July 2022 stating that the Directorate of Immigration did not take his individual circumstances into account.  

The applicant claimed that he had suffered from racial discrimination in the labour and housing market and could not get access to adequate healthcare in Italy. The applicant stated that he lived in a refugee camp, worked six days a week and attended school after work. The applicant confirmed that he was in general good health but suffered from toothache and occasional headaches.   

The Immigration and Asylum Appeals Board analysed case law from the ECtHR as well as reports from various civil society actors and international organisations. The board noted that there was evidence that suggested that reception centres in Italy were often overcrowded and lacking hygiene and that discrimination against refugees was an ongoing challenge. The board also noted that the applicant had attended school, found accommodation and worked in Italy. The board added that the applicant’s health conditions were not so critical that it was pertinent that the applicant should remain in Iceland. There was also no indication that the applicant needed medical treatment that could be accessed in Iceland but not in Italy. The applicant was also not assessed as having any special ties with Iceland which would give him the right to have his request examined in Iceland under the Act on Foreign Nationals. 

The applicant was in possession of a valid residence permit which was granted on grounds not related to international protection. The board concluded that this gave the applicant the possibility to approach the police without fear for his personal safety. The board also noted that Italy has policies in place to prevent refoulement and that applicants for international protection have access to national judicial remedies as well as the ECtHR. 

The board concluded that the mere fact that living conditions were more optimal in a sending EU+ country than in the receiving EU+ country was not grounds to stop Dublin transfers. The board highlight that the threshold for conditions to be considered a breach or Article 3 ECHR was high and in such cases the risk to the applicant ought to be demonstrated with credible up-to-date information pertaining to the applicant’s individual circumstances. In the present case, the board did not consider the applicant to be at risk of inhumane and degrading treatment if returned to Italy. The Immigration and Asylum Appeals Board thus upheld the decision of the Directorate of Migration confirming the legality of the proposed Dublin transfer from Iceland to Italy.