The applicant, an Afghan national from the province of Baghlan, of Tajik ethnicity and a Sunni muslim, entered Austria and requested international protection on 3 October 2016. He stated that he had to leave the country because his school was very far away and the way to school was very dangerous. In addition, a Taliban commander had sent his people to his home so that the he would join them. His father then sent him away so that he would not be killed. His second brother was taken away by the Taliban and killed two months after the applicant left Afghanistan.

On 5 March 2019, the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) rejected the application for asylum for lack credibility. It was also noted that in the event of return, he had his family in Afghanistan and that being a single adult he could live in Kabul without being exposed to the risk of persecution.

The Federal Administrative Court allowed the appeal in part and granted subsidiary protection. It dismissed the request for refugee status as the applicant did not prove that he would be personally persecuted by the Taliban. However, it made reference to several reports by NGOs and media reports concerning the recent events in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of international troops. The court held that it cannot be ruled out with the necessary certainty that, if the applicant returned to Afghanistan, as a result of the advance of the Taliban and the associated arbitrary killing of civilians, he would face the real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment across the country, which would mean a real risk of violation of Article 3 ECHR or would pose a serious threat to life or integrity for him as a civilian as a result of arbitrary violence in the context of the domestic conflict. Overall, there are conditions nationwide in Afghanistan that justify granting subsidiary protection.