D., a national of South Sudan from the Nuer ethnic group in the Jonglei State, requested international protection in France, claiming that he feared being exposed to persecution or serious harm, if returned to his country of origin, by the Dinka government forces on account of imputed political opinions attributed to him because of his membership of the Nuer ethnic group, and because of the deteriorating security situation in South Sudan. The applicant claimed that his older brother was enlisted by Nuer soldiers and he died in the conflict. The applicant also noted that he left for Sudan due to the clashes between the Nuer and the Dinka.

After arriving in France, he requested international protection and on 2 April 2025, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) rejected the request.

The applicant appealed this decision before the National Court of Asylum (CNDA).

The CNDA allowed the appeal and considered as established the applicant's South Sudanese nationality and provenance from Jonglei State, considering his detailed statements which were not contested by OFPRA. The court observed that the applicant provided, during his hearing, precise details of his village of origin, the surrounding localities and detailed the context of the civil conflict and its ethnic dimension in South Sudan, triggered in December 2013 as a result of political tensions between President Salva Kiir and his Vice President Riek Machar. He presented in a coherent manner the conflict between the Dinka and Nuer communities, the targeted violence, forced recruitment and mass displacement caused by the conflict.

However, the court considered that the applicant did not provide sufficient evidence to establish specific targeting against him or his family members on account of their membership of the Nuer ethnic group, and that his statements about his own fears remained general. It therefore dismissed his request for refugee protection.

The court did however analyse the security situation in South Sudan, and particularly in the Jonglei State where he would be expected to return. The court noted that there were relevant, reliable and publicly available sources of information at the date of the decision which showed that the violent conflict between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar and their respective factions, which began in December 2013 in Juba between the Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups, and which also affected all other ethnic groups, could be classified as an internal armed conflict. There were war crimes, and crimes against humanity, committed by each belligerent. Furthermore, although there was a peace agreement on 12 September 2018 in Addis Ababa, the interim report of the Panel of Experts on South Sudan submitted in accordance with UNSCR 2781 (2025) of 26 November 2025 highlighted the disintegration of government and opposition forces, in which the South Sudan People's Defence Force (SSPDF) is resorting to indiscriminate aerial bombardment affecting the civilian population. The court also noted a severe food insecurity, due also to flooding and influx of returnees and refugees from neighbouring Sudan, which reached famine in some areas, worsening clashes between SSPDF and allied forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) and the National Salvation Front (NAS). The CNDA noted an item published on 13 June 2025, entitled ‘South Sudan: the peace agreement risks collapsing, warns a UN Commission', by the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan which stated that the SSPDF carried out military operations, including airstrikes on civilian areas, causing heavy losses and mass displacement. The CNDA also noted forced recruitment of thousands of soldiers, arbitrary arrests of opposition figures, including Vice-President Riek Machar, and intensified fighting which aggravate the humanitarian and human rights crisis. Lastly, the CNDA observed that in 2024, the Human Rights Division of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) documented 1,019 incidents of violence with 1,561 killed, 1,299 injured, 551 abducted and 246 victims of conflict-related sexual violence, which was an increase compared to 2023.

Regarding in particular the State of Jonglei, the court noted the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) information published on 28 January 2026, entitled ‘The escalation of violence in Jonglei threatens the South Sudan Peace Agreement', that South Sudan has been experiencing a rapid deterioration in its security situation since the end of 2025, following clashes between government forces and the opposition in parts of Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, and Equatoria. The court observed that violent clashes took place on 26 January 2026 on the outskirts of the city of Yuai. The court also highlighted that the UNHCR stated in August 2025 that, since the previous February, the conflict had intensified in Upper Nile State and Jonglei State, causing the displacement of 84,000 people in Jonglei State, that Uganda has taken in around 24,000 South Sudanese refugees, mainly fleeing Jonglei and Upper Nile. Therefore, the court considered that the ongoing armed conflict in South Sudan gave rise to a situation of indiscriminate violence of exceptional intensity in the State of Jonglei.

Thus, the applicant was provided subsidiary protection as it was considered that the applicant must be regarded as a civilian, who would, in the event of his return to South Sudan, solely because of his presence, run a real risk of suffering a serious and individual threat to his life or person by reason of violence which may extend to persons irrespective of their personal situation and resulting from a situation of internal armed conflict, without being able to rely on the effective protection of the South Sudanese authorities.