When new facts or findings emerge indicating that there is a reason to reconsider whether a person is eligible for refugee status or subsidiary protection status , the Commissioner General examines whether she can revoke the granted status. This reconsideration takes place on an individual basis.
The reconsideration of a protection status by the CGRS can also be requested by the Minister or the person authorised by the latter.
The CGRS informs the applicant in writing of the reasons for the reconsideration.
Revocation of the protection status based on cessation grounds
A revocation decision based on cessation grounds ends the status granted. Protection is no longer necessary as a result of the applicant's own behaviour or as a result of a change in the circumstances that led to the granting of the status.
The Commissioner General revokes the refugee status if:
- the applicant voluntarily requests protection from the country of which he is a national
- the person concerned voluntarily re-acquires his or her nationality after losing it;
- the person concerned acquires a new nationality and enjoys protection in the country of which he or she possesses the new nationality;
- the person concerned has voluntarily re-established himself in the country where he feared persecution;
- the circumstances that led to the refugee status no longer exist and the refugee can no longer refuse to avail himself/herself of the protection from the country of his or her nationality (or the country of habitual residence in the case of stateless persons), unless there are compelling reasons due to previous persecution. The Commissioner General examines whether the change in circumstances is sufficiently extensive and permanent to eliminate the fear of persecution.
The CGRS revokes the subsidiary protection status if the person concerned is no longer eligible for subsidiary protection: the circumstances that led to the status, no longer exist or have changed in such a way that the protection status is no longer necessary. (The change in circumstances is of such an extensive and permanent nature that the person concerned no longer runs a real risk of suffering serious harm.)
There must not be any compelling reasons on the part of the applicant as a result of previous serious harm not to avail himself/herself of the protection from the country of his/her nationality (or the country of habitual residence in the case of stateless persons).
Revocation of the protection status
The Commissioner General takes a decision to revoke the protection status if
- the person concerned is or should have been excluded from protection or
- he/she was granted a protection status through fraudulent means.
If, after granting a protection status, the Commissioner General decides that the applicant is or should have been excluded, he can revokes the refugee status or the subsidiary protection status. In this decision, the Commissioner General renders an advice on a possible removal.
Read more about the situations in which the CGRS can apply the exclusion clause under Exclusion.
The Commissioner General revokes a protection status on the grounds of fraud if the applicant:
- represented the facts wrongly during his/her asylum procedure;
- withheld information during his/her asylum procedure;
- made false statements during his/her asylum procedure;
- used false or falsified documents during his/her asylum procedure;
The fraud must relate to essential elements of the application for international protection which were not known at the time the protection status was granted.
The Commissioner General revokes refugee status if:
- the person concerned has been definitively convicted of a particularly serious crime and poses a threat to society;
- there are reasonable grounds to consider that the person concerned represents a threat to national security.
In this decision, the Commissioner General also renders an advice on a possible removal.