Denmark - the Refugee Appeals Board’s decision of 22 February 2017
Keywords:
| 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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Credibility assessment
Description
Assessment made in adjudicating an application for a visa, or other immigration status, in order to determine whether the information presented by the applicant is consistent and credible. |
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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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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:
The applicant, an ethnic Kurd and a Yarsan from Kanehar, Kermanshah, Iran, had performed religious activities aimed at spreading the knowledge of the faith and thereby attracted the attention of the authorities.
The majority of the Board accepted the applicants account and consequently the Board found that the applicant risked persecution because of his Yarsan religious activities and granted refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1).
Facts:
The applicant, born in 1985, is an ethnic Kurd and a Yarsan from Kanehar, Kermanshah, Iran. He entered Denmark in October 2015 and applied for refugee status. He stated that he feared if he returned to Iran he would be executed by the Iranian authorities because he is not a Muslim but a Yarsan. He had performed religious activities aimed at spreading the knowledge of the faith and thereby attracted the attention of the authorities.
In support of his application the applicant has explained that he had participated in five meetings during the last 18 months before his departure from Iran. In the meetings, he had presented Yarsan leaders, including his father’s brother to the participants which included Muslim students. Material about Yarsan such as cd’s and books were distributed. In September 2015, the applicant’s home was searched by men in plain clothes. The applicant was not at home but his mother afterwards told him that the men in plain clothes mentioned the applicant by name and said they would find her son and punish him.
The Danish Immigration Service rejected the asylum application in September 2016.
Decision & reasoning:
The applicant was granted refugee status under the Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 (1).
The account of the applicant has been established by the majority of the Refugee Appeals Board.
The majority of the Board accepted that the applicant, as a consequence of his religious activities regarding the Yarsan faith, has attracted the attention of the authorities. The majority of the Board therefore found that it cannot be dismissed with the necessary certainty that the applicant, in the case of returning to Iran, will be exposed to persecution based on these facts. 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).
Observations/comments:
The decision was a majority decision and the dissent is not available.
Cited National Legislation:
| Cited National Legislation |
| (1) |
| Denmark - The Danish Aliens Act Art. 7 |