Persecution on Grounds of Religion and Granting International Protection: Religious Conversion in Cases before the CJEU

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of granting international protection to individuals based on claims regarding violations of their freedom of religion. There are specific aspects of such claims, inter alia, in complex cases of a religious conversion that has occurred after the arrival in a state in which the person concerned is applying for protection. This issue combines such detailed problems as granting protection sur place, the risk of abuse by simulating certain activities, and the issue of verifying the credibility of the applicant. At the same time, however, the approach to this issue reflected in the case law of European courts, i.e. the Court of Justice of the EU and the European Court of Human Rights, highlights certain characteristic processes in the framing of international protection as such and, more broadly, international refugee law. This text addresses this detailed issue in the context of analyzing the current CJEU ruling in the case of Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl v. JF of 29 February 2024, which concerned the issue of religious conversion after arrival in an EU Member State.