Denmark - the Refugee Appeals Board’s decision of 16 February 2017
Keywords:
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Assessment of facts and circumstances
Description
The duty of the state to carry out an individual assessment of all relevant elements of the asylum application according to the provisions of Article 4 of the Qualification Directive, including considering past persecution and credibility; and the duty of the applicant to submit as soon as possible all statements and documentation necessary to substantiate the application. |
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Country of origin information
Description
"Information used by the Member States authorities to analyse the socio-political situation in countries of origin of applicants for international protection (and, where necessary, in countries through which they have transited) in the assessment, carried out on an individual basis, of an application for international protection.” It includes all relevant facts as they relate to the country of origin at the time of taking a decision on the application, obtained from various sources, including the laws and regulations of the country of origin and the manner in which they are applied, regulations of the country of origin, plus general public sources, such as reports from (inter)national organisations, governmental and non-governmental organisations, media, bi-lateral contacts in countries of origin, embassy reports, etc. This information is also used inter alia for taking decisions on other migration issues, e.g. on return, as well as by researchers. One of the stated aims of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is to progressively bring all activities related to practical cooperation on asylum under its roof, to include the collection of Country of Origin Information and a common approach to its use. |
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Non-state actors/agents of persecution
Description
People or entities responsible for acts or threats of persecution, which are not under the control of the government, and which may give rise to refugee status if they are facilitated, encouraged, or tolerated by the government, or if the government is unable or unwilling to provide effective protection against them. |
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Persecution Grounds/Reasons
Description
Per Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention, one element of the refugee definition is that the persecution feared is “for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion“. Member States must take a number of elements into account when assessing the reasons for persecution as per Article 10 of the Qualification Directive. |
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Relevant Facts
Description
An assessment of an application for international protection must take into account all relevant facts, including those relating to: the country of origin at the time of taking a decision on the application, including laws and regulations of the country of origin and the manner in which they are applied; relevant statements and documentation presented by the applicant; the individual position and personal circumstances of the applicant; and other matters set out in Article 4 of the Qualification Directive |
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Well-founded fear
Description
One of the central elements of the refugee definition under Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention is a “well-founded fear of persecution”: "Since fear is subjective, the definition involves a subjective element in the person applying for recognition as a refugee. Determination of refugee status will therefore primarily require an evaluation of the applicant's statements rather than a judgement on the situation prevailing in his country of origin. To the element of fear--a state of mind and a subjective condition--is added the qualification ‘well-founded’. This implies that it is not only the frame of mind of the person concerned that determines his refugee status, but that this frame of mind must be supported by an objective situation. The term ‘well-founded fear’ therefore contains a subjective and an objective element, and in determining whether well-founded fear exists, both elements must be taken into consideration." |
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Nationality
Description
One of the grounds of persecution specified in the refugee definition per Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention. Nationality can be defined generally as the legal bond between a person and a State which does not indicate the person's ethnic origin. According to the Qualification Directive, when considered as a reason for persecution, the concept of nationality is not confined to citizenship or lack thereof and, in particular, includes membership of a group determined by its cultural, ethnic, or linguistic identity, common geographical or political origins or its relationship with the population of another State |
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Political Opinion
Description
One of the grounds of persecution specified in the refugee definition per Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention. According to the Qualification Directive the concept of political opinion includes holding an opinion, thought or belief on a matter related to potential actors of persecution and to their policies or methods, whether or not that opinion, thought or belief has been acted upon by the applicant. |
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Real risk
Description
In order to be eligible for subsidiary protection, a third country national or stateless person must demonstrate that if returned to his or her country of origin, or in the case of a stateless person, to his or her country of former habitual residence, s/he would face a real risk of serious harm as defined in QD Art. 15 and that s/he is unable, or owing to such risk, unwilling to avail her/himself of the protection of that country. The fact that an applicant has already been subject to persecution or serious harm or to direct threats of such persecution or such harm, is a serious indication of the applicant's well-founded fear of persecution or real risk of suffering serious harm, unless there are good reasons to consider that such persecution or serious harm will not be repeated. |
Headnote:
The applicant, a stateless Palestinian and a Sunni Muslim from Baghdad, had been threatened by a Shia Militia working with or for the Ministry of Interior.
Based on the coherent, logical and consistent account in accordance with the current country of origin information the Board found the applicant exposed to persecution by the authorities or persecution supported by the authorities.
The applicant was granted refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1).
Facts:
The applicant, born in 1971, is a Stateless Palestinian and a Sunni Muslim from Baghdad, Iraq. He entered Denmark in August 2015 and applied for refugee status. He stated that he feared if he returned to Iraq he would be kidnapped and killed by Shia Militia working with or for the Ministry of Interior. The applicant also referred to the general conditions for Stateless Palestinians as the overall goal of the Authorities is to make Stateless Palestinians leave the country.
In support of his application he referred to his home being searched by the authorities several times since 2013. In June 2015, the applicant received threats from [A] who was a spy for and transmitted the threats on behalf of the Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Interior. [A] told the applicant that the Intelligence Service was collecting information about the applicant with the aim of arresting him. [A] proposed the applicant to pay an unknown man from an unknown militia to have his name cleared. The applicant never met the unknown man and left the country immediately after the threats.
The applicant was informed that five days after his departure five armed men from the Intelligence Service asked for him in the coffee shop he usually frequented. Further, his brother was detained and tortured by unknown men asking for information about the applicant.
The Danish Immigration Service rejected the asylum application in September 2016.
Decision & reasoning:
The account of the applicant has been established by the Refugee Appeals Board.
The board accepted the applicant’s account. The Board emphasised that the account was coherent, logical and consistent, and that it was in accordance with the current country of origin information about the conditions of the Stateless Palestinians in Baghdad, the cooperation of the authorities with the Shia Militias, and the general suspicion of the authorities towards Stateless Palestinians whom they believe support terrorist action.
The Board also rendered probable the relation between “the applicant’s conflict” and the following search by the Intelligence Service at the coffee shop and the arrest of the applicant’s brother. Therefore, the Board found the applicant at the time of his departure as being exposed to persecution by the authorities or persecution supported by the authorities.
Consequently, the Board granted the applicant refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1).
Outcome:
The applicant was granted refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1).
Cited National Legislation:
| Cited National Legislation |
| (1) |
| Denmark - The Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 |