COMMON ANALYSIS | Last update: June 2026
For general guidance on the country guidance approach to this section, see ‘EUAA, Article 15(c) QR: indiscriminate violence in situations of armed conflict in Country Guidance: explained, February 2026’.
In armed conflicts, the targeting of civilians may have nexus to one of the reasons for persecution and, therefore, refugee status may be granted.
The assessment for the applicability of Article 15(c) QR is primarily based on the ‘Country Focus 2026’ COI report, with reference period 1 October 2024 - 30 November 2025. Based on the COI Update 2026, some indicators, mainly referring to data until 25 March 2026, have been added during the finalisation of the document.
This guidance should be considered valid as long as current events and developments fall within the trends and patterns of violence observed within the reference period of the mentioned COI report. New events and developments that cause substantial changes, new trends or geographical shifts in the violence, may lead to a different assessment. The security situation in a given territory should always be assessed in light of the most up-to-date COI available.
All the below elements have to be fulfilled in order to grant subsidiary protection under Article 15(c) QR.
Figure 2. Article 15(c) QD/QR: Elements of the legal assessment.
