The appeal: Two Russian nationals challenged the deportation order - concerning their deportation from France to Russia - issued by the Prefect of Haute-Garonne and the French Ministry of the Interior respectively.
The decision of the Conseil d’État: The Conseil d’État ruled against suspending these deportation measures.
The Geneva Convention allows for the deportation or return (refoulement) of a refugee when his/her presence represents a danger to the security of the country in which he/she is located or a threat to the community of that country.
In a ruling of 14 May 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union, interpreting the Directive of 13 December 2011 concerning the status of refugees, which has been transposed into national law, ruled that Member States could only apply this option on condition that the refugee would not face a real and serious risk of being subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment in the country of destination.
In the two cases heard in emergency interim proceedings, the first national concerned had had his refugee status withdrawn in 2018 by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) after a dozen convictions, notably for acts of violence involving the use of a weapon.
The second individual concerned had lost his refugee status in 2016 due to his links with various individuals in the pro-jihadist movement and the high likelihood he had been in the Syrian-Iraqi conflict zone. Since then, he had been in contact with a detainee imprisoned for planning a terrorist act and his influential position within the Chechen community raised fears that he might incite young people in that community to be radicalised.
The deportation of these two persons to Russia was not suspended because the persons concerned failed to provide evidence of a real and serious risk that they would be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment if returned to that country.