1. Applicants shall submit all the elements available to them which substantiate the application for international protection. For that purpose, applicants shall fully cooperate with the determining authority and with other competent authorities and shall remain present and available on the territory of the Member State responsible for examining their application throughout the procedure, including during the assessment of the relevant elements of the application.
2. The elements referred to in paragraph 1 shall consist of the following:
(a)
the applicant’s statements; and
(b)
all the documentation at the applicant’s disposal regarding the following:
(i)
the applicant’s reasons for applying for international protection;
(ii)
the applicant’s age;
(iii)
the applicant’s background, including that of relevant family members and other relatives;
(iv)
the applicant’s identity;
(v)
the applicant’s nationality or nationalities;
(vi)
the applicant’s country or countries and place or places of previous residence;
(vii)
previous applications for international protection from the applicant;
(viii)
the results of any resettlement or humanitarian admission procedure relating to the applicant as defined by Regulation (EU) 2024/1350;
(ix)
the applicant’s travel routes; and
(x)
the applicant’s travel documents.
3. The determining authority shall assess the relevant elements of an application for international protection in accordance with Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1348.
4. The fact that an applicant has already been subject to persecution or serious harm, or to direct threats of such persecution or such harm, shall be considered a serious indication of that applicant’s well-founded fear of being persecuted or of a real risk of suffering serious harm, unless there are good reasons to consider that such persecution or serious harm will not be repeated.
5. Where one or more particular aspects of the applicant’s statements are not supported by documentary or other evidence, no additional evidence shall be required in respect of those particular aspects where the following conditions are met:
(a)
the applicant has made a genuine effort to substantiate his or her application for international protection;
(b)
all relevant elements at the applicant’s disposal have been submitted and a satisfactory explanation has been given regarding any lack of other relevant elements;
(c)
the applicant’s statements are found to be coherent and plausible and do not run counter to available specific and general information relevant to the applicant’s case;
(d)
the general credibility of the applicant has been established, taking into account, inter alia, the time at which the applicant applied for international protection.
1. A well-founded fear of being persecuted or a real risk of suffering serious harm may be based on:
(a)
events which have taken place since the applicant left the country of origin; or
(b)
activities which the applicant has engaged in since the applicant left the country of origin, in particular where it is established that the activities relied upon constitute the expression and continuation of convictions, beliefs or orientations held in the country of origin.
2. Where the risk of persecution or serious harm is based on circumstances which the applicant has created since leaving the country of origin for the sole or main purpose of creating the necessary conditions for applying for international protection, the determining authority may refuse to grant international protection, provided that any decision taken on the application for international protection respects the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, as supplemented by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967 (the ‘Geneva Convention’), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Actors of persecution or serious harm can be:
(a)
the State;
(b)
parties or organisations controlling the State or a substantial part of the territory of the State;
(c)
non-State actors, if it can be demonstrated that the actors referred to in Article 7(1) are unable or unwilling to provide protection against persecution or serious harm.
1. Only the following actors can provide protection against persecution or serious harm, provided that they are able and willing to provide effective and non-temporary protection in accordance with paragraph 2:
(a)
the State;
(b)
stable, established non-State authorities, including international organisations, which control the State or a substantial part of the territory of the State.
2. Protection against persecution or serious harm shall be effective and of a non-temporary nature. That protection shall be considered to be provided where the actors referred to in paragraph 1 take reasonable steps to prevent persecution or the suffering of serious harm, inter alia, by operating an effective legal system for the detection, prosecution and punishment of acts constituting persecution or serious harm, and where an applicant has access to that protection.
3. When assessing whether stable, established non-State authorities, including international organisations, control a State or a substantial part of its territory and provide protection within the meaning of paragraph 2, the determining authority shall take into account precise and up-to-date information on countries of origin obtained from relevant and available national, Union and international sources and, where available, the common analysis on the situation in specific countries of origin and the guidance notes referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2303.
1. Where the State or agents of the State are not the actors of persecution or serious harm, the determining authority shall examine, as part of the assessment of the application for international protection, whether an applicant is not in need of international protection because the applicant can safely and legally travel to and gain admittance to a part of the country of origin and can reasonably be expected to settle there and whether, in that part of the country, the applicant:
(a)
has no well-founded fear of being persecuted or does not face a real risk of suffering serious harm; or
(b)
has access to effective and non-temporary protection against persecution or serious harm.
2. Where the State or agents of the State are the actors of persecution or serious harm, the determining authority shall presume that effective protection is not available to the applicant and no examination as referred to in paragraph 1 need be carried out.
The determining authority may only carry out an examination as referred to in paragraph 1 where it is clearly established that the risk of persecution or serious harm stems from an actor whose power is clearly limited to a specific geographical area or where the State itself only has control over certain parts of the country.
3. The determining authority shall carry out an examination as referred to in paragraph 1 once it has established that the qualification criteria set out in this Regulation would otherwise apply to an applicant. The burden of demonstrating that an internal protection alternative is available to the applicant shall fall on the determining authority. The applicant shall be entitled to present evidence and submit any element which indicates that such an alternative is not available to him or her. The determining authority shall take into account the evidence presented and elements submitted by the applicant.
4. In examining whether an applicant has a well-founded fear of being persecuted or faces a real risk of suffering serious harm, or has access to protection against persecution or serious harm in a part of the country of origin concerned in accordance with paragraph 1, the determining authority shall, at the time of taking the decision on the application for international protection, have regard to the general circumstances prevailing in that part of the country and to the personal circumstances of the applicant set out in Article 4. To that end, the determining authority shall take into account precise and up-to-date information obtained from relevant and available national, Union and international sources and, where available, the common analysis on the situation in specific countries of origin and the guidance notes referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2303.
5. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the determining authority shall take into account:
(a)
the general circumstances prevailing in the relevant part of the country of origin, including the accessibility, effectiveness and durability of the protection referred to in Article 7;
(b)
the personal circumstances of the applicant in relation to factors such as health, age, gender, including gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic origin and membership of a national minority; and
(c)
whether the applicant would be able to cater for his or her own basic needs.
6. Where the applicant is an unaccompanied minor, the determining authority shall take into account the best interests of the minor and, in particular, the availability of sustainable and appropriate care and custodial arrangements.
