Subsidiary protection is international protection for persons seeking asylum who do not qualify as

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s. In European law, Directive 2004/83/EC defines the minimum standards for qualifying for subsidiary protection status. The Directive was later added to with Directive 2011/95/EU, which states that uniform, European states for persons eligible for subsidiary protection and the content of the protection granted. In the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, a person eligible for subsidiary protection status means a third country national or stateless who would face a real risk of suffering serious harm if s/he returned to the country of origin. Serious harm is defined as the risk of: "''(a) death penalty or execution; or (b)

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

inhuman or degrading treatment Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 of the European Convention ...

or punishment of an applicant in the country of origin; or (c) serious and individual threat to a civilian's life or person by reasons of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict.''" According to the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...

, everyone has a right to seek asylum from persecution. The person granted refugee status, however, is defined by the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees as a person who risks being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion in his or her country of origin.

Exclusions from Subsidiary Protection Status

A person is excluded from subsidiary protection if the European Member State believes that s/he has committed a serious crime there, is guilty of acts contrary the Charter of the United Nations' article 1 and 2, or if s/he is a danger to the society, or if s/he has committed a

crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the c ...

. Furthermore, the subsidiary protection status may be removed from persons when the circumstances leading to the protection status have ceased to exist or have changed so that the person no longer faces a risk of serious harm.

References

{{reflist Right of asylum in the European Union de:Subsidiärer Schutz