Law and livability: interrogating discourses on queer Nigerian asylum seekers and the German asylum law

This article interrogates the challenges encountered by queer Nigerian asylum seekers within the German legal framework of asylum claims based on sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI). While protection from persecution on grounds of SOGI is enshrined in the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), queer asylum seekers navigate notoriously precarious conditions to be assessed in their claims. I analyze Administrative Court documents in SOGI procedures of queer Nigerians between 2006 and 2022 as well as landmark cases that have influenced the legal landscape for queer people seeking refuge in Germany to date. Through this, I identify patterns, shifts, and developments in the treatment of queer Nigerian asylum seekers and connect these to the evolving legal perspectives and interpretations regarding the key elements of information on Nigeria as a country of origin, credibility assessment and so-called ‘discretion reasoning’. I contextualize my discussions from a temporal lens. As conclusion, the article not only provides a significant understanding of the challenges faced by queer Nigerian asylum seekers in Germany but also contributes to an understanding of the discursiveness of legal texts in their ongoing and ambiguous negotiation and production of knowledge surrounding sexuality, nationality, and migration.