FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 37153/17
Aichtou MAGASSOUBA
against the Netherlands
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 24 October 2019 as a Committee composed of:
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, President,
Georges Ravarani,
Jolien Schukking, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 16 May 2017,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant is a Guinean rejected asylum-seeker, who was born in 1994. She was represented by Ms A.W.J. van der Meer, a lawyer practising in Dordrecht.
The applicant complained that she and her minor daughter, who was born in the Netherlands, would be subjected to (further) female genital mutilation (“FGM”), and thus treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention, if they were to be returned to Guinea. The applicant also invoked Article 8 of the Convention.
After the Government had been given notice of the application, they informed the Court on 12 September 2019 that the applicant had been granted a residence permit enabling her to stay in the Netherlands. On this basis, the Government requested the Court to strike the case out of the list of pending cases.
On 2 October 2019 the applicant, having been invited to comment, replied that she did not wish to withdraw the application as the proceedings before the Court concerned the recognition of the fact and/or real risk that she and her daughter would be subjected to (further) FGM if removed to Guinea. Furthermore, had her asylum application been granted from the outset, she would by now have had a residence permit since three years which would allow her to obtain Dutch nationality in 2021.
THE LAW
The Court notes that the applicant has been granted a residence permit in the Netherlands and no longer faces removal to Guinea. As it has not been informed of the contrary by either of the parties, the Court assumes that the applicant’s daughter also has legal residence in the Netherlands. For these reasons, the Court considers that the matter complained of has been resolved within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (b) of the Convention and that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols does not require it to continue the examination of the application under Article 37 § 1 in fine.
Accordingly, the application should be struck out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Done in English and notified in writing on 14 November 2019.
Liv TigerstedtStéphanie Mourou-Vikström
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
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