Common European Asylum System in a Changing World

of the Charter constitutes an act of persecution under Article 9 (1) of the directive. The CJEU also held that national authorities, in assessing an application for refugee status on an individual basis, cannot reasonably expect an asylum seeker to forego religious activities that can put their life in danger in the country of origin. Abdulla E.A. – Joined Cases C175/08, C176/08, C178/08, C179/08 The case concerned the cessation of refugee status of certain Iraqi nationals to whom Germany had granted refugee status. The basis of the cessation was that the conditions in their country of origin had improved. The CJEU held that, for the purposes of Article 11 of the Qualification Directive, refugee status ceases to exist when there has been a significant and non-temporary change of circumstance s in the third country concerned and the basis of fear, for which the refugee status was granted, no longer exists and the person has no other reason to fear being persecuted. For assessing a change of circumstances, states must consider the refugee’s individual situation while verifying whether the actor or actors of protection have taken reasonable steps to prevent the persecution and that they, among other things, operate an effective legal system for the detection, prosecution and punishment of acts constituting persecution. This protection must also be accessible to the national concerned if they cease to have refugee status. Bolbol, C-31/09 A stateless person of Palestinian origin who left the Gaza Strip and arrived in Hungary where she submitted an asylum application without previously having sought protection or assistance from the UNRWA. The CJEU clarified that, for the purposes of Article 12 (1) (a) of the Qualification Directive, a person should be regarded as having received p rotection and assistance from a UN agency , other than the UNHCR, only when they have actually used that protection or assistance, not merely by virtue of being theoretically entitled to it. El Kott, C-364/11 The CJEU clarified that persons forced to leave the UNRWA operational area for reasons unconnected to their will and beyond their control and independent volition must be automatically granted refugee status, where none of the grounds of exclusion laid down in Articles 12 (1) (b) or (2) and (3) of the directive apply. Elgafaji, C-465/07 The case concerned the return of an Iraqi national to Iraq. The CJEU assessed the granting of subsidiary protection status to an Iraqi national who could not be qualified as a refugee and based its reasoning on the meaning of “serious and individual threat to a civilian’s life or person by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict” referred to in Article 15 (c) of the Qualification Directive. The Court held that the meaning of this provision of the directive has its own field of application which is different from the terms ‘death penalty’, ‘execution’, and ‘torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ used in Article 15 (a) and (b) of the directive. It covers a more general risk of harm relating either to the circumstances of the applicant and/or to the general situation in the country of origin. Eligibility for subsidiary protection under Article 15 (c) requires showing that the applicant is affected by factors particular to their personal circumstances and/or by indiscriminate violence. The more the applicant is able to show that they are affected by specific factors particular to their personal circumstances, the lower the level of indiscriminate violence required for them to be eligible for subsidiary

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