Home EASO Practical Guide: Qualification for international protection References Legal references and relevant case-law Reasons for persecution: membership of a particular social group Table of Contents Introduction Checklists Guidance General principles Legal framework Individual circumstances Decision-making process ‘Outside the country of origin’: Personal and territorial scope Personal and territorial scope Third-country national Stateless person Importance of determining the country of origin Outside the country of origin Refugee status Persecution and well-founded fear Persecution 1. Is the act a sufficiently severe violation of human rights, taking one of the following forms? 2. Is the act a violation of a non-derogable human right or a sufficiently severe violation of another basic human right? 3. Can the treatment be considered as the accumulation of various measures, the consequences of which would affect the applicant in a similar manner? Well-founded fear Reasons for persecution Race Religion Nationality Membership of a particular social group Common characteristic Perception of distinct identity Political opinion Nexus/(for reasons of) Subsidiary protection Real risk Serious harm Article 15(a) QD Article 15(b) QD Torture Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Article 15(c) QD International or internal armed conflict Civilian Indiscriminate violence Serious and individual threat Life or person Nexus (by reason of) International protection needs arising sur place Actors of persecution or serious harm Protection in the country of origin Actors of protection Quality of protection Effectiveness Non-temporary nature Accessibility Internal protection alternative Safety in a part of the country of origin Access to part of the country of origin Reasonableness for the applicant to settle in a part of the country of origin Unwillingness to avail of the protection of the country of origin Flowcharts Preliminary considerations: personal and territorial scope Persecution Well-founded fear Reason for persecution Subsidiary protection Protection in the country of origin Internal protection alternative References Abbreviations and useful links Other resources Legal references and relevant case-law General principles Personal and territorial scope Refugee status: well-founded fear of persecution Reasons for persecution: race Reasons for persecution: religion Reasons for persecution: nationality Reasons for persecution: membership of a particular social group Reasons for persecution: political opinion Nexus (for reasons of) Subsidiary protection: real risk of serious harm Subsidiary protection: death penalty or execution Subsidiary protection: torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Subsidiary protection: serious and individual threat to a civilian’s life or person by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict International protection needs arising sur place Actors of persecution or serious harm Actors of protection and quality of protection Internal protection alternative Share Print Legal references Jurisprudence Article 1A(2) GC Article 10(d) QD Recital 30 QD CJEU, Minister voor Immigratie en Asiel v X and Y and Z v Minister voor Immigratie en Asiel, Joined Cases C-199/12 to C-201/12, judgment of 7 November 2013, EU:C:2013:720, paras 45-49 (definition of particular social group), paras 53-61 (criminalisation of homosexual acts), paras 70-76 (applicant cannot be expected to conceal homosexuality or exercise reserve in the expression of his sexual orientation) Book traversal links for Reasons for persecution: membership of a particular social group Previous Parent Next
