A case litigated by ELA resulted in the annulment of a decision rejecting the asylum application of a survivor of gender-based violence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The asylum authorities had dismissed the violence she experienced as a “private dispute” and ordered her return to her country of origin.

Issued on 30 September 2026, Decision ΑΔ412/2026 of the Administrative Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki found that the rejection lacked adequate legal reasoning and referred the case for a new assessment. The authorities had failed to assess her individual circumstances alongside the country-of-origin information they themselves cited. 

The judgement highlights serious shortcomings in the examination of these claims and the need for asylum assessments that recognise gender-based violence as a possible form of persecution. Violence against women is not a private dispute. Gender-based violence may constitute persecution under international refugee law, as members of a “particular social group”. 

This marks the fifth positive judgement issued by this Court in cases involving survivors of gender-based violence represented by ELA. Our legal assistance to survivors has also resulted in 15 favourable decisions on applications for interim measures, nine issued in Thessaloniki and six in Athens. We hope this judgement and ongoing litigation will help establish important legal precedents and advance a fairer asylum system that recognises and protects survivors of gender-based violence.