UNHCR publishes statement regarding membership of a particular social group and internal flight alternative in the context of human trafficking

UNHCR published on 14/06/2012 its Statement on the Application of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol to Victims of Trafficking in France. This paper was published on the occasion of the Cour nationale du droit d’asile’s (CNDA) recent overruling of two decisions by the Director of the Office francais de protection des refugies et apatrides (OFPRA) and granting refugee status to two applicants on the basis of their well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of their membership of a particular social group, one of the five grounds enumerated in Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention) and its 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and implemented in France as per the Loi n° 2003-1176 du 10 decembre 2003 modifiant la Loi n° 52-893 du 25 juillet 1952 relative au droit d’asile. OFPRA has lodged an appeal, which is still pending, before the Conseil d’Etat against the CNDA decision of 29 April 2011.

 
In the document, UNHCR provides its position on the following issues raised by the above mentioned cases: (i) the interpretation of membership of a particular social group in relation to victims of trafficking, including whether it is necessary for members of a particular social group to possess common characteristics that are manifested externally in the sense of being visible or identifiable to members of society, (ii) whether the well-founded fear of persecution faced by victims of trafficking is linked to a Convention ground (the nexus or causal link issue), and (iii) the interpretation of an internal flight alternative/internal relocation alternative (IFA) for victims of trafficking.

For the full text of the document please visit: UNHCR Statement on the Application of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol to Victims of Trafficking in France

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