The CGVS updates its policy regarding the assessment of applications for international protection from Somalia
While in the past, Somali applicants from southern and central Somalia, with the exception of Mogadishu, were generally granted subsidiary protection status because of the security situation, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) now concludes that no region in Somalia is characterized by an exceptional situation in which the degree of indiscriminate violence is so high that it reaches the "real risk" threshold leading per se to the granting of subsidiary protection.
In a press release published today, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) underlines that it continuously monitors the situation in Somalia, inter alia to assess the need for subsidiary protection from citizens originating from different regions of this country.
Based on the available country information, the CGVS concludes that no region in Somalia is characterized by an exceptional situation in which the degree of indiscriminate violence is so high that there are substantial reasons to believe that a citizen, merely by his presence, runs an actual risk of being exposed to a serious threat to his life or person as stipulated by Article 48/4, § 2, c) of the Aliens Law.
However, this does not exclude applicants from certain regions of Somalia from still being granted subsidiary protection if they can prove a need for it because of their personal circumstances.
For further details, inter alia on the CGVS policy regarding refugee status determination for Somali applicants, please read the press release from the CGVS.