EUROPEAN UNION AGENCY FOR ASYLUM 6. Protection and nationality (or lack thereof) International protection is secondary to the protection available to a person in their country of origin. For this reason, the assessment of the availability of protection in the country of origin is a mandatory step in the analysis of the need for international protection. The assessment needs to be undertaken if you have previously established that there is a fear of persecution or serious harm in the event of the applicant’s return to their home area in the country of origin. To be considered a refugee or eligible for subsidiary protection, the applicant should be unable or, owing to a fear of persecution for one of the Refugee Convention reasons or to a real risk of serious harm, unwilling to avail themself of the protection in their country of origin. For a stateless applicant, if fear of persecution for one of the Refugee Convention grounds has been ascertained, the examination should focus on whether they are unable or, owing to such fear of persecution, unwilling to return to their country of former habitual residence. Article 3(5) QR – definition of a refugee ‘refugee’ means a third-country national who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, is outside the country of nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or a stateless person, who, being outside of the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons as mentioned, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it, and to whom Article 12 does not apply. (emphasis added) Article 3(6) QR – definition of a person eligible for subsidiary protection ‘person eligible for subsidiary protection’ means a third-country national or a stateless person who does not qualify as a refugee but in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that that person, if returned to his or her country of origin or, in the case of a stateless person, to his or her country of former habitual residence, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm as defined in Article 15, and to whom Article 17(1) and (2) does not apply, and is unable or, owing to such risk, unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country. (emphasis added) In this guide, you will find additional information in relation to specific aspects concerning nationality that may have an impact on your assessment of the availability of national protection for an applicant. 56