- Family Members Cannot Obtain Protective Status Due to Court Decision
Under German asylum law, spouses, children, or parents of refugees recognized in other nations do not have the right to family refugee status, as ruled by the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia in Münster. This decision is currently under review at the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig (Az.: 14 A 3506/19.A).
In the subject case, the husband left Syria in 2013 and was granted refugee status under the Geneva Convention in Bulgaria. He later moved to Germany with his refugee documentation and submitted another asylum application, which was denied by the German Immigration and Refugee Office, leading to his deportation order to Bulgaria. The Cologne Administrative Court halted this order due to human rights violations in Bulgaria and ordered the Federal Office to implement a deportation ban. The Syrian man was subsequently given subsidiary protection status and a temporary residence permit in Germany.
His wife and daughter abandoned Syria in 2015 and applied for asylum in Germany. A son was born to the family in Cologne in 2017. The family was also granted subsidiary protection. However, the German Immigration and Refugee Office declined to acknowledge the refugee status granted to the husband in Bulgaria.
The Cologne Administrative Court considered this as an oversight and referred to the Bulgarian authorities' decision. However, the 14th Senate of the Higher Administrative Court disagreed and dismissed the appeal. The plaintiffs face no risk of persecution in Syria, according to the Asylum Act. Only in the case where a close relative obtains refugee status in Germany can family refugee status be obtained, which does not apply to the plaintiff.
Generally, individuals should return to the nation where their refugee status has been recognized. This country is also responsible for family reunification.
Subsidiary protection is granted to those who do not meet the criteria for refugee status under the Geneva Convention or have a valid asylum claim, but still face a significant risk of harm in their home country, such as execution, torture, or degrading treatment.
Despite the husband's successful acquisition of refugee status under the Geneva Convention in Bulgaria, the German Immigration and Refugee Office failed to recognize this, which was a concern even when the Cologne Administrative Court considered it an oversight. Surprisingly, BFG's (Bulgaria's) recognition of his refugee status was not enough to secure family refugee status for his wife and daughter in Germany, as stipulated by German asylum laws.
