On the 21st of July 2023, the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) ruled in its judgment no. 23009590. The case concerns E, a Sudanese national, who resided in Khartoum and was regularly arrested and interrogated by the Rapid Support Forces there as he was working as a courrier for a bakery near political demonstrations. During these interrogations, he was subjected to severe violence, and local residents suspected him of collaborating with the authorities. Fearing for his safety, he left Sudan and entered France in 2022.
The CNDA ruled that E’s expressed fears cannot be regarded as well-founded due to his inconsistent statements. However, the CNDA noted that there has been an internal armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF’s strategy is to take the civilian population of Khartoum hostage in the hope that the army will not destroy the capital, but the Sudanese army does not spare civilians. The CNDA observed that 65 % of the security incidents have taken place in the Khartoum region, that there is limited humanitarian access, that there are at least 1331 deaths in the region and that many are displaced. The CNDA therefore ruled that the situation of internal armed conflict in the State of Khartoum generates, for any civilian having to return or transit there, a serious and individual threat against his life due to the indiscriminate situation and so E must be granted subsidiary protection.
Based on an unofficial translation from within the EWLU Team