Cessation and review of protection status

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Cessation of international protection is regulated by LITP. Asylum shall be ceased if:[1]

1. The refugee (“asylee”) voluntarily accepts the protection of the country of which he/she is a national;
2. The asylee acquires the citizenship of the country whose protection he or she may enjoy;
3. The asylee voluntarily returns and resides in the country he or she left or outside of which he or she has resided due to fear of persecution;
4. The circumstances in the asylee’s country of origin, on the basis of which international protection was approved, cease to exist;
5. The asylee voluntarily re-acquires the nationality of his or her country of origin, which he or she had previously lost.

Subsidiary protection shall be ceased if the circumstances on the basis of which it was granted cease to exist or are altered to such an extent that further protection is no longer necessary.[2] After establishing that the circumstances related to the cessation of international protection referred have ceased to exist in a significant and permanent manner, the Ministry of Interior shall inform the asylee or foreigner under subsidiary protection accordingly and shall allow him or her to make an oral statement for the record.[3]

The Ministry of Interior shall render a decision to revoke the decision approving international protection and a claim may be brought before the Administrative Court within 8 days of the day of delivery of the decision.

However only asylees in whose case the circumstances in the country of origin, on the basis of which international protection was approved, cease to exist have the right to free legal assistance, meaning  that a legal representative can be paid from the state budget to submit a law suit and represent the beneficiary before the Administrative Court.[4]

According to the Ministry of Interior, there were no cases of cessation of international protection in 2015, 2016, 2017 or 2018.[5] However, the Ministry continuously examines whether the legal requirements for cessation are fulfilled. This provision applies without exception to all categories of foreigners who have previously been granted international protection. No information on cases of cessation of international protection is available for the period 2019 until the end of 2021.

[1]        Article 49(1) LITP.

[2]        Article 49(2) LITP.

[3]        Article 49(3) LITP.

[4]        Article 72 LITP.

[5]        Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 2 March 2017; 13 February 2018, 28 January 2019.