Communicated on 30 May 2018

THIRD SECTION

Application no. 82077/17 A.J. and Others against the Netherlands lodged on 1 December 2017

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The case concerns a mother and her two minor sons, all Iraqi nationals, whose asylum applications were rejected by the Netherlands. The applicants ’ husband and father is a stateless Palestinian, who is currently residing in Syria. The applicants allege that their removal to Baghdad, Iraq, will violate their rights under Article 3 of the Convention. They also allege a breach of Article 13 of the Convention.

QUESTIONs tO THE PARTIES

1. In the light of the applicants ’ claims and the documents which have been submitted as well as information from public sources – more specifically, the information about Palestinians in Baghdad set out in the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and in the official country report on Iraq from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs of November 2016, both submitted with the application, as well as the information about Palestinians who have been outside Iraq for an extended period of time and their possibilities for re-entrance contained in the European Asylum Support Office Query of 10 November 2017, updated 4 January 2018 (enclosed) – would the applicants face a real risk of being subjected to treatment in breach of Article 3 of the Convention if they were returned to Baghdad, Iraq?

2. Would they face such a risk if their Palestinian husband and father were unable to re-enter Baghdad, Iraq, from Syria? In particular, would the first applicant in such a situation be considered a single woman and, if yes, what consequences would that entail in terms of the Government ’ s policy on single women from central and southern Iraq?

APPENDIX