International protection is a substitute for national protection. When a state fails to protect its own citizens against persecution or serious harm or when the state itself is the actor of persecution, the need for international protection arises. International protection includes refugee status (¹⁹) and subsidiary protection (²⁰). 

The 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees (Refugee Convention) (²¹) as well as Directive 2011/95/EU (QD (recast)) provide five reasons for persecution, on the basis of which refugee status is recognised. These are race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group and political opinion.

Subsidiary protection is granted when applicants are facing a real risk of serious harm which includes death penalty or execution, torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or serious harm resulting from indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict.

The reasons for applying for asylum can be very sensitive and personal. This can be the case, for example, when the applicant is a victim of domestic violence, trafficking in human beings (THB), torture, rape or other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence, or if the persecution is linked to the expression of one’s gender identity, sexual orientation. In such cases, the applicants might hesitate to share information openly. It is important to be aware of these possible situations and to take this into account when providing information.

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For further guidance regarding qualification for international protection consult EASO, Practical Guide on Qualification for International Protection, April 2018.

(¹⁹) The definition of ‘refugee’ is provided in Article 2(d) QD (recast): ‘“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 above, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it, and to whom Article 12 does not apply’.

(²⁰) The definition of ‘person eligible for subsidiary protection’ is provided in Article 2(f) QD (recast): ‘“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 the person concerned, 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.’

(²¹) UN General Assembly, ‘Convention relating to the status of refugees’, United Nations Treaty Series, Vol 189, Geneva, 28 July 1951, p. 137; UN General Assembly, ‘Protocol relating to the status of refugees’, United Nations Treaty Series, Vol 606, 31 January 1967, p. 267 – (referred to in EU asylum legislation and by the CJEU as ‘the Geneva Convention’).