The Office of Migration uses the European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI) for country condition resources.521 522 4. Refugee Status Determination: Article 1D Article 1D of the Refugee Convention is implemented in Article 15, Section 3(a) of the Czech Asylum Act. Under Article 15, asylum cannot be granted if the asylum seeker avails himself or herself of the protection or enjoys support from United Nations bodies other than the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees; but the provisions of the Asylum Act shall apply to persons to whom, for any reason, such protection or support is not granted and for whom the final decision on their status has not been made pursuant to the provisions of the relevant resolutions made by the United Nations General Assembly. Despite this provision of Article 15, in general, the Ministry of Interior does not consider the exclusion clause in cases of Palestinian asylum seekers. Palestinians whose applications are approved are usually granted subsidiary protection rather than refugee status, and the appellate bodies’ decisions since El Kott have not been favorable to Palestinian applicants. A.F., male, 20 years old, Palestinian refugee born in Syria (6 August 2013) The asylum seeker was born in Syria. His grandfather arrived in Syria in 1948 and was registered with UNRWA at that time. The asylum seeker had also been registered with UNRWA in Damascus, and submitted an UNRWA record of the registration to the Ministry of Interior during the refugee status determination proceedings. The asylum seeker filed his application on 10 May 2012. He stated in his application that he left Syria because he wanted to study in the Czech Republic as his uncle is a Czech citizen. He further stated that he could not go back to Syria because he feared he could be persecuted because of his father’s activities in Syria. The Ministry of Interior rendered a decision on 7 May 2013, which granted subsidiary protection for 12 months. The decision included no reasoning regarding the application of the exclusion clause, and only mentioned that the UNRWA registration record had been submitted, without any further statement of its significance. The asylum seeker appealed the decision on subsidiary protection, arguing that he fulfilled the requirements for asylum according to Article 15 §3(a) of the Asylum Act, considering decision C-364/11, El Kott v. Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Municipal Court in Prague made its decision on 6 August 2013, finding against the asylum seeker. The asylum seeker filed an appeal of the Municipal Court’s decision to the 521 106 “European Country of Origin Information Network,” accessed November 18, 2014, http://www. ecoi.net/. 522 Beáta Szakácsová, Overview of the RSD Procedure Conducted with Palestinian Asylum seekers in the Czech Republic (Oct. 31, 2013) (unpublished manuscript) (on file with author). Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees

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