Latest asylum case law

Austria

The Federal Administrative Court dismissed the appeal of a Syrian national of Kurdish ethnicity, ruling that refugee status could not be granted because the overthrow of the Assad regime and the abolition of compulsory military service removed the risk of draft-related or politically imputed persecution, and finding that granting subsidiary protection complied with the Supreme Administrative Court’s requirement to consider EUAA guidelines and UNHCR’s position on returns to Syria, thereby rejecting refugee protection while maintaining subsidiary protection.

14/07/2025

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AT: Federal Administrative Court [Bundesverwaltungsgericht - BVwG]

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Decision

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I419 2284112-1

A Syrian national, member of the Kurdish ethnic group, requested international protection in Austria on 3 October 2022, after entering irregularly via Greece and Hungary. He alleged a risk of persecution by the Syrian State, on political grounds, linked to his evasion of military service since 2011–2012, his participation in anti-Assad demonstrations in 2012, and his previous asylum...

Austria

The Federal Administrative Court granted refugee status to a Cameroonian national from the Anglophone South-West region, holding that he had credibly demonstrated past persecution by both separatists and state authorities on account of imputed political opinion, that acts such as abduction, arbitrary detention, torture, and the rape of his fiancée amounted to inhuman or degrading treatment under the ECHR and constituted persecution under the recast Qualification Directive, and that an arrest warrant and absence of an internal flight alternative substantiated a well-founded fear of future persecution.

14/07/2025

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AT: Federal Administrative Court [Bundesverwaltungsgericht - BVwG]

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Decision

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I425 2313192-1

A Cameroonian national, member of the Bakossi ethnic group and of Christian faith, requested international protection in Austria on 26 October 2023, claiming that he had been subject to acts of persecution by both separatists and government forces on multiple occasions due to his perceived political stance and professional profile. The applicant came from the Anglophone South-West region in...

Austria

The Federal Administrative Court dismissed the appeal lodged by a Syrian national, ruling that refugee status could not be granted because the overthrow of the Assad regime and the suspension of compulsory military service meant that there was no credible or individualised risk of persecution for draft evasion or imputed political opinion; the court rejected refugee status but upheld the granting of subsidiary protection due to the poor security situation prevailing in Syria and the associated risks.

15/07/2025

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AT: Federal Administrative Court [Bundesverwaltungsgericht - BVwG]

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Decision

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I413 2290384-1

A Syrian national requested international protection in Austria on 9 January 2024, claiming that he had evaded military service, which the Assad regime had interpreted as oppositional political behaviour. He argued that he did not want to perform military service because he could not reconcile conscription with his conscience, as it would involve participation contrary to human rights and...

Austria

The Supreme Administrative Court annulled the decision of the Federal Administrative Court concerning a Kurdish national from Türkiye, ruling that the lower court insufficiently reasoned its decision and failed to conduct an overall assessment of the applicant’s individual circumstances, despite acknowledging his contact and work with the YPG, a potential negative attention from Turkish authorities due to links with the HDP, and a risk arising from refusal to perform military service, thereby undermining a proper credibility and risk evaluation.

30/07/2025

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AT: Supreme Administrative Court [Verwaltungsgerichtshof - VwGH]

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Decision

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Ra 2025/19/0091

A Turkish national member of the Kurdish ethnic group, applied for international protection in Austria on 17 March 2023. He claimed persecution for political reasons, citing his family’s oppositional political stance, , his involvement with the pro-Kurdish party Halkların Demokratik Partisi (HDP), and his refusal to perform military service. He claimed to have been victim of threats and...

Austria

The Supreme Administrative Court annulled the decision of the Federal Administrative Court concerning a Syrian father and his two daughters, holding that the lower court acted in violation of procedural provisions by inconsistently assessing regime control over their home region (Shuyukh Tahtani, in the immediate vicinity of the city of Kobane/Ain al Arab in the Aleppo Governorate) considering the father’s claim of opposition to the Syrian regime, failing to examine possible family support for the daughters, and neglecting to conduct an individualised risk assessment.

07/08/2025

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AT: Supreme Administrative Court [Verwaltungsgerichtshof - VwGH]

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Decision

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Ra 2024/18/0486

A father (first applicant) and his two daughters (second and third applicants), all Syrian nationals requested international protection in Austria on 12 September 2022. They stated that they had left Syria in 2014 due to the war. On 3 August 2023, the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) rejected refugee status and subsidiary protection, and granted them temporary residence...

Spain

The National High Court dismissed the appeal of a Venezuelan applicant diagnosed with HIV upholding the Ministry of the Interior’s refusal to grant asylum, subsidiary protection, or residence on humanitarian grounds. The court held that the applicant had failed to demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution under the Refugee Convention or a real risk of serious harm. It further concluded that humanitarian protection was unwarranted given his prior residence in a safe third country (Chile) and the lack of specific proof evidencing the unavailability of HIV treatment in Venezuela.

25/06/2025

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ES: National High Court [Audiencia Nacional]

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Judgment

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SAN 2850/2025

B., a Venezuelan national diagnosed with HIV in 2017, arrived in Spain in 2019, where he applied for international protection on 26 February 2022, citing his health condition and the lack of access to treatment in Venezuela. He had previously lived in Chile before relocating to Spain where, in 2020, he began receiving medical treatment.

On 21 October...

Spain

The National High Court annulled the Ministry of the Interior’s decision declaring an asylum application implicitly withdrawn due to the applicant’s lack of response, holding that he had not been properly notified, as no edictal notification was issued after two failed personal delivery attempts.

25/06/2025

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ES: National High Court [Audiencia Nacional]

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Judgment

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SAN 2835/2025

A., a Venezuelan national, applied for international protection in Spain on 2 March 2022. By decision of 10 November 2022, the Ministry of the Interior (the Ministry) declared the international protection procedure implicitly withdrawn due to the applicant’s failure to respond to a request for documentation, including a passport copy and supporting evidence for his asylum...

Spain

The Supreme Court ordered the State Administration to comply with previously issued interim measures and to guarantee access to the national asylum reception system for unaccompanied minors under the custody of the Canary Islands region holding that the minors were entitled to full reception rights under EU and Spanish law; the court instructed the State to urgently deploy resources, ensure inter-administrative coordination with the regional government, and report biweekly on implementation under threat of coercive measures.

04/06/2025

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ES: Supreme Court [Tribunal Supremo]

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Interim Measures

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ATS 5274/2025

Following the arrival in the Canary Islands of large numbers of unaccompanied children who had requested or had the intention to request international protection in Spain, the applicant -the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands- requested the Spanish State Administration access for these minors to the national asylum reception system. On 25 March 2025, the Supreme Court issued an

Austria

The Supreme Administrative Court annulled the decision of the Federal Administrative Court concerning an Afghan national, holding that the lower court failed to make the necessary factual findings to establish, under CJEU criteria set out in C-217/23 [Laghman], that the applicant, on the basis of membership in his father's family which was drawn into a blood feud, was to be regarded as part of a particular social group with a clearly defined identity in the country of origin under Article 10(1)(d) of the recast Qualification Directive.

12/05/2025

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AT: Supreme Administrative Court [Verwaltungsgerichtshof - VwGH]

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Decision

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Ra 2022/20/0289

An Afghan national requested international protection in Austria on 4 November 2015, stating that he was threatened with blood revenge by his father’s cousins. On 21 June 2017, the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) rejected the request for refugee status and subsidiary protection and issued a return decision. The applicant lodged an appeal against this decision before the...

Austria

The Supreme Administrative Court annulled the decision of the Federal Administrative Court concerning a Syrian national, holding that the lower court relied on factual findings that did not correspond to the applicant’s case but was based on facts from another’s person’s case file, thereby committing a procedural violation.

02/06/2025

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AT: Supreme Administrative Court [Verwaltungsgerichtshof - VwGH]

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Decision

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Ra 2024/18/0613

A Syrian national requested international protection in Austria on 18 January 2023, claiming that he feared persecution in his country of origin because he was a former police officer and had left the police service without permission. He further stated that his house had been bombed and that he lived with his family in a refugee camp near the Turkish border. On 24 January 2024, the Federal...