JUDGMENT OF 13. 1. 2021 – CASE C-507/19 BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND (REFUGEE STATUS OF A STATELESS PERSON OF PALESTINIAN ORIGIN) 31 In the third place, the referring court asks to what extent movement between different fields of UNRWA’s area of operations may affect the question whether the protection or assistance provided by UNRWA has ceased. According to the referring court, exclusion from refugee status could also extend to a person who leaves the UNRWA area of operations – on the ground that his or her personal safety is at serious risk in the field of that area, in this case Syria, in which he has his actual residence and in which UNRWA is not in a position to provide him with protection or assistance – since that person went to that field without having any compelling reasons to do so and even though his or her personal safety was not at serious risk in the field where he had previously resided, in this case Lebanon. This would be the case, in particular, if, given the circumstances that existed at the time of his departure from that field, he could neither expect to receive protection or assistance from UNRWA in the new field, in this case Syria, nor be able to return in the near future to the field in which he previously resided, in this case Lebanon. 32 In the fourth place, the referring court notes that, in order to be entitled to refugee status under the second sentence of Article 12(1)(a) of Directive 2011/95, it is not sufficient that the person concerned no longer receives UNRWA’s protection or assistance when he or she leaves that agency’s area of operations, but rather, in accordance with Article 11(1)(f) of Directive 2011/95, read in conjunction with Article 14(1) thereof, when the decision is taken on the application for international protection, the applicant must also be unable to return to that area in order again to receive the protection or assistance of that agency. The possibility of returning to UNRWA’s area of operations should already be taken into account when deciding on whether to grant refugee status, since it would be meaningless to grant refugee status if it had to be immediately withdrawn subsequently. 33 In that connection, that court wonders whether account should be taken only of the field of UNRWA’s area of operations in which the applicant for international protection had his or her last habitual residence, or also of other fields of that area and, if so, on the basis of what criteria those other fields should be taken into account. 34 According to that court, account must be taken, first, of the field of UNRWA’s area of operations in which the applicant’s last habitual residence was situated and, secondly, of the fields with which the applicant has material links, such as actual residence or the presence of close relatives. Finally, that applicant must have a reasonable possibility of accessing those fields. 35 36 Fifthly, the national court seeks to clarify the concept of ‘habitual residence’, in particular within the meaning of Article 2(d) and (n) of Directive 2011/95, which could be decisive in establishing whether the ground for exclusion provided for in the second sentence of Article 12(1)(a) of that directive is applicable. In those circumstances, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling: ‘(1) When assessing the question of whether, within the meaning of the second sentence of Article 12(1)(a) of [Directive 2011/95], a stateless Palestinian is no longer granted protection or assistance of the UNRWA, is account to be taken from a geographical perspective solely of the respective field of operation (Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank) in which the stateless person had his actual residence upon leaving the area of operations of the UNRWA (in this case: Syria), or also of further fields of operation belonging to the area of operations of the UNRWA? (2) If account is not solely to be taken of the field of operation upon leaving: Is account always to be taken, regardless of further conditions, of all the fields of operation of the area of operations? If not: Are further fields of operation only to be taken into consideration if the stateless person had a substantial (territorial) connection to that field of operation? Is a habitual residence – at the time of or prior to leaving – required for such a connection? Are further circumstances to be taken into 8 ECLI:EU:C:2021:3