France - CNDA, 17 December 2010, Mr. T., n°10006384

Facts:

Mr. T., a Sudanese national, of Zaghawa origin, came from the town of Tawila, in the region of El Fasher, in Darfur. This town was attacked by the army and the janjawids in February 2004 and October 2007. His father and his brother were killed. He fled to Libya, and then to France where he applied for asylum. The French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) rejected his subsequent asylum application in February 2010. On appeal, the applicant requested the National Asylum Court/Cour nationale du droit d’asile (CNDA) to grant him refugee status or, failing that, subsidiary protection.

Decision & reasoning:

The CNDA  firstly stated  that the acts from which the applicant was a victim were not linked to any of the persecution grounds mentioned in Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The Court however considered that the applicant established that he would face one of the serious threats mentioned in Article L.712-1 c) of Ceseda [which transposes Article 15 (c) of the Qualification Directive]. The Court stated in particular that the town of Tawila was again the scene of fighting in the beginning of November 2010; that this region was plagued by a generalised armed conflict; that due to his young age Mr. T. faced a serious, direct and individual threat in case of return to Tawila. He therefore had a well-founded claim for subsidiary protection.

Outcome:

Subsidiary protection was granted to the applicant.

Observations/comments:

Article 15 (c) of the Qualification Directive is transposed in French legislation by Article L.712-1 c) Ceseda.

Article L.712.1 Ceseda reads [unofficial translation]:
“Subject to the provisions of Article L. 712.2 [exclusion], subsidiary protection is granted to any person who does not qualify for refugee status under the criteria defined in Article L. 711.1 and who establishes that she/he faces one of the following serious threats in her/his country:
a) death penalty;
b) torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
c) serious, direct and individual threat to a civilian’s life or person by reason of generalised violence resulting from a situation of internal or international armed conflict”.

Under French legislation, the threat should thus not only be “serious and individual” (as in the Qualification Directive) but also “direct”. Also, French legislation refers to “generalized” violence rather than “indiscriminate” violence.

This CNDA decision is not very reasoned but it clearly shows the will of the CNDA to consider that a situation of generalised violence resulting from a situation of armed conflict prevails in the region of Darfur. This is also stated in another CNDA decision (CNDA, 3 avril 2009, M. G., n°630773).