A court in the United Kingdom has dismissed an appeal by a Zimbabwean man to stay in that country as a refugee after it was established that his claims of being gay were questionable.

Judge Tara Burns upheld a ruling by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal that ruled that the man was not eligible for international protection.

For legal reasons, the man in question cannot be named.

He reportedly applied for protection in Ireland in November 2016 claiming that he would face persecution for his sexual orientation if he returned to Zimbabwe.

The man was denied refugee status by the International Protection Office in March 2019 after an interview with immigration officials.

He then appealed the decision to the tribunal, which rejected his appeal citing inconsistencies in his story.

In her ruling, Judge Burns said the man claimed to have been in a relationship with another man in Zimbabwe.

The man claimed that in September 2016, some homophobic Zanu Pf youths attacked his boyfriend and left him with serious injuries.

He added that his mother told him his boyfriend was hospitalised and later died, so he fled Zimbabwe.

Judge Burns noted that the tribunal concluded that the man was confused about dates of important events mainly the death of his partner and when his partner’s funeral took place.

The tribunal also said the man gave different ages – 10 and 15 – for when he discovered he was gay and two different ages -26 and 34 – when the relationship with his ‘late’ partner began.

In its findings, the tribunal concluded that:

Considering that the [man] has stated that this was his only relationship, and his claim is entirely based around this relationship, the tribunal does not find it credible that the [man] could not give an approximate age for when this relationship began.

Based on the tribunal’s findings Judge Burns then ruled that the man be deported to Zimbabwe.