The EU court ruled on Thursday that countries in the EU may not use psychological tests to check the sexual orientation of asylum seekers who say they are gay.
The background for the case was a complaint from a Nigerian man seeking asylum in Hungary in 2015.
The man explained that he was gay, and that he sought asylum because homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria. To investigate the claim, the Hungarian authorities demanded that he undergo a psychological examination and assessment.
The investigation couldn’t confirm that the man was gay, and the asylum application was therefore rejected.
‘The implementation of such tests implies a disproportionate intervention in the asylum seeker’s privacy’, it stated in the European Court of Justice’s ruling.
Earlier, the court had also added several other restrictions on EU countries that may wish to check the sexual orientation of asylum seekers. Immigration authorities in EU countries can’t ask detailed questions about sexual acts, nor ask for evidence in the form of images.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
