Denmark - the Refugee Appeals Board’s decision of 15 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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Burden of proof
Description
"In the migration context, a non-national seeking entry into a foreign State must prove that he or she is entitled to enter and is not inadmissible under the laws of that State. In refugee status procedures, where an applicant must establish his or her case, i.e. show on the evidence that he or she has well-founded fear of persecution. Note: A broader definition may be found in the Oxford Dictionary of Law." |
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First country of asylum
Description
"A country can be considered to be a first country of asylum for a particular applicant for asylum if: (a) he/she has been recognised in that country as a refugee and he/she can still avail himself/herself of that protection; or (b) he/she otherwise enjoys sufficient protection in that country, including benefiting from the principle of non-refoulement; provided that he/she will be re-admitted to that country." Member States may consider an application for asylum as inadmissible if a country which is not a Member State is considered as a first country of asylum for the applicant. |
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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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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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Relevant Documentation
Description
“All documentation at the applicants disposal regarding the applicant's age, background, including that of relevant relatives, identity, nationality(ies), country(ies) and place(s) of previous residence, previous asylum applications, travel routes, identity and travel documents and the reasons for applying for international protection.” |
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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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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. |
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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:
A Stateless Palestinian and Sunni Muslim from Lebanon, single woman, born and raised in Saudi Arabia who had a conflict with her family because she had had a relationship with a French Christian man and lost her virginity.
The Board found that seen in isolation as a Stateless Palestinian the applicant is covered by the Danish Aliens Act Art 7 (1).
The Board found that because the applicant had never resided in Lebanon, did not have any relation to that country, and due to her conflict with her family and based on country of origin information regarding entry options to Saudi Arabia as well as Lebanon for Stateless Palestinians, neither Saudi Arabia nor Lebanon could be considered as a first country of asylum. Consequently, the applicant was granted refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1).
Facts:
The applicant, born in 1986, is a Stateless Palestinian and Sunni Muslim from Lebanon. The applicant was born and raised in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The applicant entered Denmark in August 2014 and applied for refugee status.
The applicant stated that she feared her father and brother if she returned to Saudi Arabia because she had lost her virginity and thus dishonoured her family. The applicant feared that her father and brother would harm her in Lebanon or take her to Saudi Arabia. In support of her application she referred to having had a relation to a French Christian man called Charles, and that she had lost her virginity. Her family was aware of this as the applicant had told her friends and her psychiatrist who also was her mother’s psychiatrist.
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 found that seen in isolation as a Stateless Palestinian the applicant is covered by the Danish Aliens Act Art 7 (1).
Then the Board turned to the question whether Saudi Arabia or Lebanon could serve as a first country of asylum, cf. the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (4). Regarding Saudi Arabia, the Board notes that it accepts the applicant’s account that she had a conflict with her family due to her relationship with a Christian man. None of her parents were Saudi Arabian citizens and her visa for reinterring Saudi Arabia expired six months after she left the country. According to the country of origin information the Board did not render probable that the applicant in the future had a well-founded prospect of being able to enter and legally reside in Saudi Arabia. The Board emphasised among others the Landinfo memo from 2015 on: “Innreisemulighet for statsløs, palestinsk enslig kvinne” og “Jeminitter og andre arbejdsmiganter I Saudi.Arabia” according to which an applicant cannot be returned forcibly to Saudi Arabia and re-entering requires an application for a new visa which again requires a sponsor. As the applicant is more than 25 years old her father cannot be her sponsor and therefore she would only be able to obtain a residence permit through an employer or by marrying a Saudi Arabian citizen.
The applicant possessed a Lebanese travel document, and the Board accepts that although it had expired she would be able to enter and reside in Lebanon. However, the applicant had no relation to Lebanon which her parents left 45 years ago. Apart from a female cousin, which the applicant had never met, she had no family in Lebanon. The applicant’s two holiday visits to Lebanon took place when she was 7 and 17 years old, and the applicant therefore did not have any other kind of network in or relations to Lebanon. The applicant is a single woman with mental problems and thus in Lebanon she would be particularly vulnerable without a real possibility of obtaining support or protection against abuse. The Board’s assessment includes country of origin information regarding the general and increasingly difficult security situation as well as socio-economic conditions for Stateless Palestinians. Consequently, the Board found that the applicant could not be referred to Lebanon on grounds that Lebanon is a first country of asylum and 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 |
| Denmark - The Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1) |
| Denmark - The Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (4) |
Other sources:
Landinfo memo from 2015 on: “Innreisemulighet for statsløs, palestinsk enslig kvinne” og “Jeminitter og andre arbejdsmiganter I Saudi.Arabia”