The applicant is a Nigerian national, who arrived in Italy in March 2017 and requested international protection, claiming financial difficulties and previous experiences of  violence and sexual violence against her by private persons. She escaped with the help of a friend and arrived in Libya where she became victim of prostitution. She has been victim of trafficking in human beings for a while in Libya and afterwards she arrived in Italy where she was forced to prostitution. She mentioned to have escaped and to have received, her and her family, death threats from traffickers. The applicant claimed to fear persecution in case of return in her country of origin. Based on the interview, the Commission held that some statements were contradictory and arranged a further hearing, in which the applicant stated she was a victim of trafficking in human beings, and she has been requested to repay the sum of EUR 15.000.000. The Commission rejected the application as it found that the statements were lacking credibility, internally and externally, that the allegations were contradictory and inconsistent. The applicant appealed against the negative decision and the Tribunal re-examined the case. 

The Genova Tribunal  held that the applicant provided sufficient details regarding her oath in Nigeria, her travel debt, the creditors/traffickers, the threats initially suffered by her mother and the exploitation of prostitution in Libya and Italy. All these elements were clear indicators of the applicant being a victim of trafficking in human beings. Also, the Tribunal noted that the anti-trafficking center also highlighted the existence of these indicators, namely all the indicators of trafficking of a young woman who has been taken from her own country and has been trafficked to Libya, and thus forced into prostitution. These elements also explain the contradictions in the statements and the sometimes ‘evasive’ conduct. The Tribunal also found a risk of re-trafficking in case of return to her country of origin. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant is subject to a specific risk, linked to gender and resulting from the widespread phenomenon of trafficking in human beings for sexual purposes in the country of origin, and found that she would risk an act of persecution on grounds of membership of a particular social group. The Tribunal ruled to grant refugee status to the applicant.

The tribunal made reference to the EASO COI Report “Nigeria: Security Situation” published in June 2021.