Refugee status

AuthorEuropean Asylum Support Office (EU body or agency)
Pages16-16
Guidance note | Iraq
January 2021
16
Refugee status
All elements of the definition of a refugee in accordance with the QD should be fulfilled for the
qualification of the applicant as a refugee:
Article 2(d) of the Qualification Directive
Definitions
‘refugee’ means a third country national who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecute d
for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social
group, is outside the country of nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to
avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or a stateless person, who, being outside
of the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons as mentioned above, is unable
or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it, and to whom Article 12 [exclusion] does not apply;
Article 9 QD outlines how ‘persecution’ should be assessed.
Article 10 QD provides further clarification on the different reasons for persecution (race, religion,
nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group). A link (nexus) between
those reasons and the persecution or the absence of protection s hould be established in order for
the applicant to qualify for refugee status.
Guidance on specific profiles of applicants, based on their personal characteristics or affiliations with
a certain group (e.g. political, ethnic, religious), is provided below.
An individual assessment is required for every application. It should take into account the individual
circumstances of the applicant and the relevant country of origin information. Fac tors to take into
account in this assessment may include, for example:
home area of the applicant, presence of the potential actor of persecution and their capacity
to target a person of interest;
nature of the applicant’s actions (whether or not they are perceived negatively and/or
whether or not individuals engaged in such actions are seen as a priority target by the actor
of persecution);
visibility of the applicant (i.e. to what extent it is likely that the applicant is known to or
could be identified by the potential actor of persecution); noting, however, that the
applicant does not need to be individually identified by the acto r of persecution, as long as
his or her fear of persecution is well-founded;
resources available to the applicant to avoid persecution (e.g. relation to powerful
individuals, network);
etc.
The fact that an applicant has already been subject to persecution or to direct threats of such
persecution, is a serious indication of the applicant’s well-founded fear, unless there are good
reasons to consider that such persecution will not be repeated (Article 4(4) QD).

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT