I. Applicability of Article 1F 36. Persons with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that they have committed acts within the scope of Article 1F of the 1951 Convention74 are not entitled to international protection as refugees.75 III. PROCEDURAL AND EVIDENTIARY ISSUES A. Individual assessment 37. Although Article 1D recognizes a specific class of refugees receiving the protection or assistance of a United Nations entity other than UNHCR, the application of Article 1D will normally be assessed on an individual basis.76 B. Time of assessment 38. The assessment is whether, at the time the individual claim is considered, the protection or assistance of UNRWA has ceased such that the applicant is unable or unwilling to (re)avail him/herself of that protection or assistance for an objective reason beyond his/her control. C. Burden and standard of proof 39. In applications for refugee status or protection, including those under Article 1D, the burden generally rests on the applicant to produce evidence as far as possible to support his or her statements and to substantiate the claim. The applicant is required to give a truthful account of facts relevant to his or her claim so far as these are within his or her own knowledge, and insofar as there is information that is available to him or her and which s/he can reasonably be expected to provide to the decision-maker. A decision-maker shares the duty of ascertaining the facts relevant to the determination.77 40. Article 1D requires an examination of whether (i) the applicant falls within the category of Palestinian refugees who is receiving or eligible to receive the protection or assistance of UNRWA and (ii) the protection or assistance of UNRWA has ceased 74 Article 1F states that the provisions of the 1951 Convention “shall not apply to any person with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that: a) he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes; b) he has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee; c) he has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.” 75 UNHCR, Guidelines on International Protection No. 5: Application of the Exclusion Clauses: Article 1F of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 4 September 2003, HCR/GIP/03/05, http://www.refworld.org/docid/3f5857684.html. See also, Background Note on the Application of the Exclusion Clauses: Article 1F of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 4 September 2003, http://www.refworld.org/docid/3f5857d24.html. 76 A group-based approach, such as the prima facie recognition of refugee status, may be appropriate in certain circumstances: see UNHCR, Guidelines on International Protection No. 11: Prima Facie Recognition of Refugee Status, (“Prima Facie Guidelines”), 24 June 2015, HCR/GIP/15/11, http://www.refworld.org/docid/555c335a4.html. 77 UNHCR Handbook, note 47 above, paras 196-205; UNHCR, Note on the Burden and Standard of Proof in Refugee Claims, 16 December 1998, http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3338.html. 17