Belgian Council of Alien Law Litigation: refugee status granted despite previous assistance by UNRWA in Gaza

Date: 
Monday, July 31, 2017

On 31 July 2017, the Council of Alien Law Litigation (CALL) granted refugee status to a Palestinian from Gaza who had his asylum application rejected by the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons based on the exclusions grounds provided by Article 55(2) of the Belgian Aliens Act in accordance with Article 1D of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Despite the fact that the applicant had obtained assistance from the UNRWA in the past, the Council found that a return to the Gaza Strip was virtually impossible in practice due to the security situation in that territory, the humanitarian impact of the Israeli blockade and the border crossing situation. Therefore, relying upon UNHCR’s Interpretation of Article 1D of the 1951 Refugee Convention and Article 12(1)(a) of the EU Qualification Directive, the Council found that the applicant could no longer avail himself of the protection by UNRWA and should, therefore, be granted refugee status in Belgium.

Based on an unofficial translation by the ELENA Weekly Legal Update.



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Keywords: 
Country of origin information
Exclusion from protection