Denmark - The Refugee Appeals Board’s decision of 13 June 2017
| Country of Decision: | Denmark |
| Country of applicant: | Afghanistan |
| Court name: | The Refugee Appeals Board |
| Date of decision: | 13-06-2017 |
Keywords:
| Keywords |
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Internal protection
Description
Where in a part of the country of origin there is no well-founded fear of being persecuted or no real risk of suffering serious harm and the applicant can reasonably be expected to stay in that part of the country. |
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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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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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Refugee Status
Description
The recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or stateless person as a refugee. |
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Religion
Description
One of the grounds of persecution specified in the refugee definition under Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention. According to the Qualification Directive, the concept of religion includes in particular the holding of theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, the participation in, or abstention from, formal worship in private or in public, either alone or in community with others, other religious acts or expressions of view, or forms of personal or communal conduct based on or mandated by any religious belief. |
Headnote:
The applicant, an ethnic Turkman and an atheist from Aache, Afghanistan had received death threats from local residents close to the imam as well as from his own father because of his apostasy.
The Refugee Appeals Board found that the applicant because of his apostacy would be at risk of being persecuted by local residents, Afghan authorities and the Taleban. Consequently, the applicant was granted refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1).
Facts:
The applicant, born in 1995, is an ethnic Turkman and an atheist from Aache, Afghanistan. He entered Denmark in December 2015 and applied for refugee status. The applicant stated that he feared if he returned to Afghanistan he would be killed by his father, the authorities, the Taleban or local residents. In support of his application the applicant informed that he had considered himself an atheist since he was 15 years old. Two months before he left the country he participated in a debate in the local mosque where the other people in the mosque accused him of being an infidel and threatened to kill him if he did not repent. A few days before his departure four advisors of the imam threatened to kill him if he did not come to the mosque. The applicant consulted his father about the incident and his father threatened to kill him if he did not change his mind. After the applicant’s departure his father has threatened him when the applicant contacted him.
The Danish Immigration Service rejected his asylum application in December 2016.
Decision & reasoning:
The account of the applicant has been established by the Refugee Appeals Board.
According to his account, the applicant had, at an early age, questioned Islam and he was a declared atheist before he left the country. His apostacy resulted in his avoidance of the mosque and Islamic traditions and as a consequence four locals and his father threatened to kill him or report him to the Taleban. Against this background, the Board found that the applicant had rendered probable that if he returned to Afghanistan because of his apostacy he would be at risk of being persecuted by local residents, Afghan authorities and the Taleban. Consequently, the applicant was granted 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 |
| Denmark - The Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1) |