Az üldöztetés elismert okai a menekültügyi eljárásokban – Az Európai Bíróság legújabb ítélkezési gyakorlata

Absztrakt

Under the Qualification Directive, a non-EU citizen who has a well-founded fear of being persecuted in his home country for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group may request refugee status within the EU. The Court of Justice has recently ruled on several occasions on questions regarding these reasons of persecution, which are naturally closely linked to the political and social situation prevailing in the asylum seeker’s country of origin.

Most persons seeking for asylum within the EU come from African and Asian countries in which political, ethnic and religious conflicts cast a shadow over the life of local people. Although these conflicts do not necessarily result in persecution of such nature or frequency that would breach the fundamental rights of persons or groups of persons, the cases submitted to the Court have clearly shown that the risk of serious persecution is real.

Restrictions on or open denial of the right to freedom of religion can entail such oppression of religious minorities that their protection by the international community becomes necessary. The Court set out in a case concerning continuous attacks on the Muslim Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan that aggressions aiming at preventing the public manifestation of a religion may constitute persecution for reasons of religion.
In other countries, homosexual acts are a criminal offence and may lead to serious punishment, including life imprisonment. In this context, the Court assessed whether homosexuals may be regarded as forming a particular social group whose members, should they be persecuted in their country of origin, can seek protection within the EU. The Court has also clarified how national authorities can assess the credibility of the declared sexual orientation of applicants for asylum.

The huge number of asylum seekers arriving in the EU entails naturally the rising of the number of cases in which the Qualification Directive needs to be applied. As a consequence, such cases are being discussed more and more often before the Court and one can reasonably expect that its judges will have the opportunity also in the future to enrich the case-law regarding the reasons of persecution. The matter being important for every Member State, it can be useful from a practical point of view that, in case of doubts as to how to apply the Directive, these cases are submitted directly to the Court so the national courts and authorities can be given a uniform interpretation of it.