France - CRR, Plenary session, 25 June 2004, Mr. B., n°446177
| Country of Decision: | France |
| Country of applicant: | Algeria |
| Court name: | Refugee Appeals Board/Commission des recours des réfugiés (CRR) |
| Date of decision: | 25-06-2004 |
| Citation: | CRR, SR, 25 juin 2004, M.B., n° 446177 |
| Additional citation: | Commission des recours des réfugiés, Sections réunies, 25 juin 2004, M.B., n° 446177 |
Keywords:
| Keywords |
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Actors of protection
Description
"Actors such as: (a) the State; or (b) parties or organisations, including international organisations, controlling the State or a substantial part of the territory of the State; who take reasonable steps to prevent the persecution or suffering of serious harm, inter alia, by operating an effective legal system for the detection, prosecution and punishment of acts constituting persecution or serious harm, and the applicant has access to such protection." |
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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. |
Headnote:
Having regard to the security situation which prevailed in the area of Chlef, the CRR did not consider that the Algerian authorities were, at the time, able to provide protection against the persecution inflicted by Islamic armed groups. Furthermore, given the impossibility of finding employment and the constant fear of being forcibly returned to this area, it was not reasonable to consider that Algiers constituted an internal protection alternative.
Facts:
Mr. B., an applicant from Algeria, was affiliated with an Islamic prayer group in 1990 in the region of Chlef. From 1995 on, he was threatened and pressurised by his peers to join an Islamic armed group. He fled to Algiers in July 1997 and then returned to his village in 1999. He received death threats and he narrowly escaped a murder attempt. The police advised him to hide. He escaped to Algiers again and then left Algeria in May 2001. He applied for asylum to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra), which rejected his application. He challenged this negative decision before the Commission des Recours des Réfugiés (Refugee Appeals Commission) (CRR/CNDA).
Decision & reasoning:
Regarding protection provided by the authorities, the CRR/CNDA considered on the one hand, that the Algerian authorities must be considered as unable to provide protection to the applicant against the threats imposed on him by armed Islamists between 1995 and 2000. In addition, the security conditions which still prevailed in the area of Chlef did not enable the Court to consider that these authorities would currently be able to provide such protection against the persecution feared by the applicant in case of return to his country of origin.
Regarding internal protection, the CRR/CNDA noted on the other hand, that the applicant was able to reside in Algiers without any fear of being persecuted or suffering serious harm. However, the CRR/CNDA considers that, given the conditions in which he lived, in particular the impossibility finding employment and the constant fear of being forcibly returned to his region of origin, it would not be reasonable to expect him to stay in that part of the country.
The CRR/CNDA concluded that the applicant qualified for refugee status.
Outcome:
Refugee status was granted to the applicant.
Relevant International and European Legislation:
Other sources:
Article 2 of the amended Law from 25 July 1952 relative to the right of asylum.