The applicant submitted an application for international protection to the OFPRA, arguing he qualified for refugee status on account of his political opinions. On 30 November 2022, the OFPRA rejected his application. The applicant appealed against this decision on 3 March 2023. He argued that he was at risk of persecution upon return to Sudan on the basis of his political opinions, and also that he was facing a real risk of serious harm due to the security situation in his region of origin.

The court noted that the applicant’s statements did not suffice to establish his need for international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention on the grounds of his political opinion. The court added that his membership of the Berti tribe was also insufficient in this regard as the tribe was not particularly involved in the rebellion, and the nature of the applicant’s circumstances was not such as to justify the existence of a well-founded fear of persecution.

However, the court stated that the proceedings had established that Khartoum was the applicant’s region of origin. Based on country-of-origin information, the court observed that a new internal armed conflict was taking place in the region of Khartoum since 15 April 2023. Moreover, it cited reports according to which the conflict made thousands of victims among civilians and caused hundreds of thousands of persons to leave the region, and the country. The court thus concluded that the level of indiscriminate violence in the region of Khartoum was such that the applicant, by his mere presence there, faced a serious and individual threat to his life or person, thus triggering the application of Article 15(c) of the recast Qualification Directive.

The court annulled the OFPRA’s decision and granted the applicant subsidiary protection.