Author
According to the information provided by the MoI, there were less than 5 cessation decisions issued in 2025 regarding refugee status (the beneficiaries were from Uganda, Iraq and stateless people). There was no cessation decision issued regarding subsidiary protection.
Grounds for cessation of refugee status[1]
- Prior to granting refugee status, the refugee provided false information or concealed essential facts relevant for granting of international protection;
- the refugee has voluntarily re-availed himself or herself of the protection of the country of his citizenship;
- the refugee has voluntarily re-acquired the citizenship of the country he had left due to persecution;
- the refugee has acquired a new citizenship and can enjoy the protection of this country;
- the refugee voluntarily resides in the country which he or she left due to persecution;
- the refugee can enjoy protection of the country of their citizenship, because the circumstances in connection with which they have been recognised as a refugee have ceased to exist;
- a refugee being a stateless person is able to return to the country of former habitual residence, because the circumstances in connection with which they have been recognised as a refugee have ceased to exist;
- the refugee should have been or is excluded from refugee status according to Article 12 (2) of the recast Qualification Directive;
- there are valid reasons to consider the refugee a threat to national security;
- the refugee was sentenced for a particularly serious crime; or
- refugee status that was granted for the purpose of family reunification can cease if the ground for family reunification does not exist anymore and there is no other reason worthy of special consideration to keep the refugee status.
Grounds for cessation of subsidiary protection[2]
- Circumstances which led to the granting of subsidiary protection have ceased to exist or have changed to such a degree that protection is no longer required;
- the beneficiary of subsidiary protection should have been or is excluded from subsidiary protection according to Article 17 of the recast Qualification Directive;
- prior to granting of subsidiary protection the beneficiary provided false information or concealed facts relevant for granting of subsidiary protection; or
- there is a reasonable suspicion that the beneficiary of subsidiary protection committed a particularly serious crime.
Cessation procedure
If the Department of Asylum and Migration Policy finds reasons for cessation of international protection, they initiate the cessation procedure. In almost all cases personal interview takes place, the beneficiary of international protection has the chance to present his reasons against the cessation and submit evidence in his favour. The beneficiary can appeal against the cessation decision to the regional administrative court within one month from the date of delivery of the decision.[3] The appeal to the court has an automatic suspensive effect. The beneficiary can be granted free legal assistance within the services of NGOs, although the service is not as widely available as in proceedings of granting international protection. The beneficiary can also be granted free legal representation upon request for the court proceedings, if they prove a lack of financial means to pay for a solicitor.
There is no systematic review of protection status in the Czech Republic. However, within the procedure of extension of subsidiary protection, the MoI assesses if the circumstances which led to the granting of subsidiary protection still persist.[4] Denial of extension of subsidiary protection is occasionally applied in practice. Some of these decisions were cancelled by the court and the protection was extended in the end.[5] The beneficiary is also entitled to apply for permanent residence or EU long-term resident status during the extension procedure, including the court proceedings, if they fulfil the conditions.
In 2025, 635 applications for the extension of subsidiary protection were submitted. Protection was extended in 446 cases, in 8 cases the extension was denied (Belarus, Cuba, China, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uganda), and in 17 cases the procedure was discontinued.[6]
Concerning beneficiaries of subsidiary protection from Syria,[7] their applications for extension were suspended beginning 8 December 2024, as the MoI was waiting to see how the situation in Syria would develop. Those people who applied for an extension and their protection expired in the meantime still kept the status of beneficiary of international protection, but did not have a biometric card, only the alien’s passport with a limited validity for the duration of the extension procedure.[8] During autumn of 2025, the MoI started to resume the suspended procedures and already issued a few decisions by the time of writing this report. It is too early to tell what the general attitude of the MoI towards beneficiaries of subsidiary protection from Syria will be like. At the time of writing, it seems that protection of vulnerable persons and groups that still face particular danger in Syria will be extended, but not in other cases . The Syrian beneficiaries are aware of this situation and those who fulfill conditions are applying for permanent residence or EU long-term resident status (i.e., the only regular residence permit, except permanent residence, that beneficiaries of subsidiary protection are eligible to apply for, is the blue card).
Cessation of refugee status is applied rather rarely in practice, mainly in cases of serious crimes, residence or travelling to the country of origin, or changes in family situation in the cases of asylum granted for the purpose of family reunification. According to experience of OPU the cessation procedure was initiated in a couple of cases where the spouse, who was the primary holder of asylum, died or the couple divorced. There were also a couple of cases where the primary holder of asylum was a minor child and their mother was granted asylum for the purpose of family reunification. After the child came of age, the MoI initiated a cessation procedure concerning the mother. In some of these cases the family members managed to receive permanent residence during the cessation procedure.[9]
[1] Section 17 of the Asylum Act.
[2] Section 7a of the Asylum Act.
[3] The decision is always delivered personally and with an interpreter, if necessary.
[4] Section 53a of the Asylum Act.
[5] Regarding Iraq see Regional Court in Prague, judgement No 13 Az 4/2023-48, 31 January 2024, available in Czech here; regarding Belarus see Regional Court in Brno, judgement No 34 Az 14/2021-42, 23 August 2022 available in Czech here; regarding Ukraine see SAC, judgement No 5 Azs 227/2020-52, 22 April 2022, available in Czech here and judgement No 5 Azs 218/2020-28, 22 April 2022, available in Czech here.
[6] Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, Department for Asylum and Migration Policy, INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC: annual statistical overview, available here.
[7] By the end of 2024 there were according to the official statistics provided by the MoI upon request 250 beneficiaries of subsidiary protection from Syria.
[8] This suspension is not in accordance with the law. The Asylum Act, section 26(1)(c) allows this kind of suspension only in the procedure of granting international protection, not in the extension procedure. However, in this short period of time there was no decision of the court on this matter.
[9] Se, for example: Municipal Court in Prague, judgement No 19 Az 6/2024- 52, 5 March 2025, available in Czech here; In this case the wife of a recognised refugee had asylum for the purpose of family reunification. Her asylum was ceased for the reason that the couple didn’t live together anymore for 8 years, although they didn’t divorce. The court confirmed the cessation decision, but took care to give the wife enough time to receive permanent residence.