CJEU – Case No. C-563/22
On June 13, 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in Case No. C-563/22, responded to a preliminary ruling request from a Bulgarian judicial authority regarding the interpretation of rules for granting refugee status, particularly concerning individuals of Palestinian origin registered with the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East).
The case originated from a situation involving a mother and daughter, stateless persons of Palestinian origin residing in Bulgaria, who sought refugee status. The women left the Gaza Strip in July 2018 and arrived in Bulgaria after passing through Egypt, Turkey, and Greece.
The Bulgarian judicial authority sought the CJEU’s opinion on the application of Directive 2011/95, which establishes standards for the conditions that third-country nationals or stateless persons must meet to qualify for international protection, a uniform status for refugees or persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and the content of the protection granted.
The issue at hand concerns the fact that individuals registered with the UNRWA are generally excluded from refugee status in the European Union under the Directive that addresses the Qualification of persons for international protection.
The CJEU noted that individuals registered with the UNRWA already receive international protection. However, in the case of stateless persons displaced from Palestinian territory, if the protection provided by the UN agency ceases, they should be granted international protection as refugees. The Court emphasized that refugee status should be denied if the applicants are “covered by any other exclusion grounds provided for in the Qualification Directive (Directives 2011/95 and 2013/32).”
In this specific case, considering that the mother and daughter are stateless and left Palestinian territory in 2018, with precarious conditions for their return, no longer being under the protection of UNRWA, and “taking into account the general living conditions in the Gaza Strip at the time of the decision,” refugee status should be granted to them as a matter of right.
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The full text of the ruling is available here.
