5.  The applicant was born on 21 November 1967 in Sri Lanka. He is of Tamil ethnicity. 6.  Having been granted family reunification on 3 December 1997, by virtue of the former section 9, subsection 1(2), of the Aliens Act (Udlændingeloven), on 13 December 1997, with a valid passport and visa, the applicant joined his Sri Lankan wife in Denmark. It appears that she had left Sri Lanka in 1992 and stayed in India before, at some unknown time, she was granted asylum in Denmark, apparently due to her connections with the LTTE. 7.  Three children were born to the couple in 2000, 2002 and 2005. 8.  By a judgment of 4 July 2006 by the City Court in Tønder (Retten i Tønder), upheld on appeal on 19 September 2006 by the High Court of Western Denmark (Vestre Landsret), the applicant was convicted of the sexual abuse of a girl who was less than twelve years old. He was sentenced to three years and three months' imprisonment and expelled with a prohibition on returning. 9.  The applicant did not request leave to appeal against the judgment to the Supreme Court (Højesteret). 10.  The applicant finished serving his prison sentence on 20 March 2009. 11.  In the meantime, on 14 June 2007 the applicant requested asylum under section 7 of the Aliens Act and maintained in support thereof, inter alia, that his three siblings, two of whom were dead, had been members of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). He had not been a member of any organisation in Sri Lanka. 12.  According to an interview report of 11 December 2007 prepared by the Immigration Service, the applicant added that until he turned 30 years of age, he had been a fisherman. Then he had married and been reunited with his family in Denmark in 1997. When the applicant went to school, persons from the LTTE had come up and asked him if he could dig holes, move things and carry out various jobs. The applicant took no part in action, exercises or military training. He assisted the LTTE on a full-time basis for three years. During this period he stayed with the LTTE all the time. Thereafter he moved back to his family without telling the LTTE. Confronted with the fact that he had previously stated that he had no involvement with the LTTE, he maintained that his statement had been translated incorrectly. He had assisted the LTTE from 1990 to 1995 but had not been a member. He did not recall whether he had been wanted by the Sri Lankan authorities but he had been arrested by them ten to fifteen times. When asked why he had not previously mentioned the arrests, he stated that most of the arrests had been of only a few hours' duration but that the last one had lasted some months. It was in 1991 when he was arrested in connection with the mass arrest. He remembered being released after six months as a result of a peace agreement but his memory was not very good. Whenever he had been arrested the authorities asked him whether he was working for the LTTE. He had denied this, although this was the period during which he had worked for the organisation. Confronted with the fact that he had previously stated that he would not risk any harm upon return to Sri Lanka as he was neither wanted nor persecuted, the applicant submitted that this must have been a misunderstanding. 13.  On 21 December 2007 the applicant's application for asylum was refused by the Immigration Service (Udlændingeservice), finding that he lacked credibility and that there was no substantiated risk that he would be subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention upon return. 14.  The applicant appealed to the Refugee Appeals Board (Flygtningenævnet) before which, during an oral hearing held on 20 May 2008, he explained for example that the LTTE had approached him numerous times between 1985 and 1997 to ask him to work for them, which he did, but he had not been a member of the LTTE. The last time he assisted them was in January 1997. The applicant left in December 1997. 15.  By decision of 13 June 2008 the Refugee Appeals Board refused to grant the applicant asylum. It noted that the applicant had expanded his motive for requesting asylum and had submitted various divergent explanations. Moreover, even disregarding the fact that the applicant had made various unclear statements about the dates, number and duration of his detention by the authorities, it could be considered a fact that he was last detained in 1991, which was five or six years before his departure, in connection with a mass arrest; that he was released in connection with a peace agreement; that he was never charged or sentenced; and that he had been able to leave Sri Lanka in 1997 on a valid passport without any problems. The Refugee Appeals Board did not find that the applicant had substantiated being at risk of persecution by the Sri Lankan authorities or the LTTE upon return. Finally, it observed that the general situation in Sri Lanka for Tamils coming from the north and east of the country could not alone justify the granting of asylum, and that the applicant's case had been assessed on its concrete and particular circumstances. 16.  On 11 December 2008, upon the applicant's request, the Court of Human Rights decided to apply Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, indicating to the Government that it was in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings that the applicant should not be expelled to Sri Lanka pending the Court's decision. 17.  On 2 March 2009 the Refugee Appeals Board refused the applicant's request to reopen the case. 18.  On 16 June 2009 the Refugee Appeals Board decided to suspend the examination of asylum cases concerning Tamils from northern Sri Lanka, including the applicant's case. 19.  On 16 December 2009, on the basis of the most recent background information concerning Sri Lanka including, inter alia, a Memorandum of 26 October 2009 prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Refugee Appeals Board decided to review the suspended cases, including the applicant's case. 20.  On 16 March 2010 the Refugee Appeals Board refused to reopen the applicant's case as it found that the most recent general background information would not lead to a revised assessment of the case. More specifically in its letter to the applicant's representative it stated as follows:
... In its decision of 13 June 2008, the Refugee Appeals Board found ... The Refugee Appeals Board still finds that your client's fear of being forcibly recruited by the LTTE or of being subjected to outrages by the LTTE as a result of having fled from the LTTE does not warrant a residence permit under section 7 of the Aliens Act. In this connection, the Refugee Appeals Board emphasises that your client's statements about his alleged connection with the LTTE were extended during the asylum proceedings and were diverging in essential areas. In this connection, the Refugee Appeals Board also refers to the fact that the Sri Lankan military forces defeated the LTTE in May 2009. Moreover, the Refugee Appeals Board refers to the background information available to the Board from which it appears that it is hardly likely that former low-ranking members of the LTTE or persons who have previously supported the LTTE will risk reprisals from the LTTE, see United Kingdom: Home Office, Operational Guidance Note, Sri Lanka, August 2009. Regardless of whether your client's information about his previous activities for the LTTE is considered a fact, the Refugee Appeals Board stills find that your client would not risk persecution or being subjected to outrages as covered by section 7 of the Aliens Act by the Sri Lankan authorities if returned to Sri Lanka, including in connection with his arrival at Colombo airport. The Refugee Appeals Board emphasizes that from his detention in 1991, where his photo was taken, and until his departure in 1997 your client has not been detained or had his picture or fingerprint taken or in any other way been the object of interest from the Sri Lankan authorities. The authorities have thus not carried out any acts aimed at your client that indicated that he was suspected of being a member of the LTTE. In this connection, the Board also refers to the fact that your client departed lawfully from Sri Lanka with his own Sri Lankan national passport for the purpose of family reunification with his spouse. Similarly, the Refugee Appeals Board refers to the background material available to the Board, according to which persons who have previously supported the LTTE on a lower level are generally not of interest to the authorities, see United Kingdom: Home Office, Operational Guidance Note, Sri Lanka, August 2009, and see United Kingdom: Home Office, Report of Information Gathering Visit to Colombo, Sri Lanka 23-29 August 2009. Against that background the Refugee Appeals Board also finds that the fact that one or more of your client's siblings have been members of or active for the LTTE cannot warrant a residence permit under section 7 of the Aliens Act, according to the background information now available. The fact that as an ethnic Tamil from northern Sri Lanka your client may risk being questioned and investigated by the authorities on entry into the country cannot lead to a revised assessment of the case under asylum law. In this assessment, consideration has been given to the background information available to the Board, according to which the individuals at particular risk of being detained and investigated upon entry in Colombo are young Tamils, men in particular, from northern and eastern Sri Lanka, those without identification or residence in Colombo, and those recently returned from the West, see United Kingdom: Home Office, Report of Information Gathering Visit to Colombo, Sri Lanka 23‑29 August 2009. In this connection the Board refers to its finding that it has not been rendered probable that your client would be an object of particular interest to the Sri Lankan authorities. As in its decision of 13 June 2008, the Refugee Appeals Board still finds that the general situation in Sri Lanka is not of such nature as to warrant in itself the grant of a residence permit under section 7 of the Aliens Act. The Board observes in that connection that it is a condition for a residence permit under section 7 of the Aliens Act that, upon a specific, individual assessment, an alien is deemed at risk of persecution or outrages. The authority of the Refugee Appeals Board is restricted to deciding asylum-relevant issues, and it is thus outside the Board's authority to determine whether an alien who does not meet the conditions of section 7 of the Aliens Act may be issued with a residence permit for other reasons of a more humanitarian nature. Against that background and in accordance with the Board's decision of 13 June 2008, the Refugee Appeals Board still finds that it has not been rendered probable that, in case of return to Sri Lanka, your client would be at concrete and individual risk of persecution as covered by section 7(1) of the Aliens Act, or that your client would be at a real risk of outrages as covered by section 7(2) of the Aliens Act. It should be noted that your client's time-limit for departure is still suspended until further notice on the basis of the request of 11 December 2008 from the European Court of Human Rights. If the basis for your client's lawful stay in Denmark lapses, your client must leave the country immediately, see section 33 of the Aliens Act. As appears from the decision of the Refugee Appeals Board of 13 June 2008, your client may be forcibly returned to Sri Lanka if he does not leave voluntarily, see section 32a, cf. section 31, of the Aliens Act. 21.  On 18 March 2010, the applicant's representative brought proceedings against the Refugee Appeals Board before the City Court (Retten i Sønderborg) claiming that the Board's decision of 16 March 2010 should be annulled. It appears that the proceedings are still pending.