Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention, rather than Article 1D. The Court decided
that the applicant could not be granted refugee status in France, because he had not
personally been exposed to a serious threat, and therefore could not demonstrate
personal fear of persecution within the meaning of the Geneva Convention.
Case 493412, A, of 14 May 2008628
On 14 May 2008, the Court granted refugee status to Mohammed Assfour, a
Palestinian asylum seeker who was registered with UNRWA in Jordan. Mr. Assfour
voluntarily left Jordan for France in 2003. In its decision, the Court declared that Article
1D applies only to asylum seekers actually receiving assistance from UNRWA or other
UN agencies. According to the Court, once an asylum seeker leaves the UNRWA area of
operations, this protection ceases and the asylum seeker is entitled to protection under
the Refugee Convention. While the Court reserved the right to reject an application
under Articles 1E and 1F, the Court applied Article 1D and did not require Article 1A(2)
to apply for a Palestinian asylum seeker to be granted refugee status.
Here, while the circumstances surrounding the Mr. Assfour’s departure from
Jordan were not enumerated, the court declared that he was no longer under the
protection of UNRWA as he was outside of Jordan, and automatically granted him
refugee status.
Case 318356, A, of 23 July 2010629
In this case, the Office for Refugees claimed that there was an error in the decision
of 14 May 2008 regarding Mohammad Assfour’s case, and requested a re-evaluation
of the decision. Upon evaluation, the Court declared that the previous decision was
in error, as it failed to consider whether the asylum seeker left Jordan due to the
circumstances detailed in Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention.
In so doing, the Court clarified its position regarding Article 1D. While the
exclusion clause in Article 1D does not apply to Palestinians who left the area
of UNRWA’s mandate, the asylum seeker is only entitled to protection under the
Refugee Convention if he or she left the UNRWA area due to a well-founded fear of
persecution within the meaning of Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention.
Here, the Judge did not determine whether Mr. Assfour left Jordan due to a fear of
well-founded persecution, as described in Article 1A(2). Rather, the decision simply
noted a mistake in the previous decision and, for that reason, nullified the decision
of 14 May 2008.
Commission des Recours des Réfugiés (CRR), Contentieux Des Réfugiés: Jurisprudence Du Conseil
d’État et de La Commission Des Recours Des Réfugiés, Année 2008 (Cour Nationale du Droit d’Asile
(CNDA), April 5, 2009), 76–77, http://www.cnda.fr/content/download/5122/15496/version/1/file/
recueil2008.pdf.
629
Commission des Recours des Réfugiés (CRR), Contentieux Des Réfugiés: Jurisprudence Du Conseil
d’État et de La Commission Des Recours Des Réfugiés, Année 2010 (Cour Nationale du Droit
d’Asile (CNDA), February 1, 2012), 131–132, http://www.cnda.fr/content/download/7969/24037/
version/1/file/recueil-2010.pdf.
628
128
Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees
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