A Nigerian man who claimed he could not return home for fear of being persecuted for his sexual orientation was granted refugee status by a local court on Monday.
A Seoul administrative court ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by the gay Nigerian man, which sought to overturn an earlier government decision not to recognize his refugee status.
The court said there is a good chance that the plaintiff would be subject to persecution from authorities if he were to return home. Under Nigerian law, a homosexual can face up to 14 years in prison.
The individual petitioned the government for refugee status in September 2010 after he had been caught as an illegal alien three months earlier. The Justice Ministry rejected his application. The
man, whose name has been withheld, entered the country in 2009.
The ruling by the court to reverse the ministry's decision comes after local judges granted asylum status in 2010 to a man from Pakistan who claimed he would be persecuted at home for his
sexual orientation.
South Korea, meanwhile, signed the U.N. Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1992 that grants asylum status to people facing persecution at home. (Yonhap News)