Published on 10 February 2025
 
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 27212/24
Z.J.
against Sweden
lodged on 1 October 2024
communicated on 23 January 2025
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The applicant, an Afghan national, requested asylum in Sweden. He submitted that he was at risk in Afghanistan due to, among other things, his Hazara ethnicity, his medical condition, his “westernisation” and his lack of network in Afghanistan. In several sets of proceedings, during the years from 2020 to 2024, the Swedish authorities refused his requests and ordered his deportation. He complains that if he were to be deported, he would face a real risk of being subjected to treatment in breach of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention.
His request for an interim measure under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court was granted by the Court on 30 October 2024.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
In the light of the applicant’s claims, the documents which have been submitted and relevant country information, would he face a risk of being subjected to treatment in breach of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention if he were deported to Afghanistan?
In particular, would he face such a risk on account of his Hazara origin, alone or in combination with any further individual circumstances, taking into consideration, inter alia, country information regarding the situation in Afghanistan for individuals of Hazara ethnicity and individuals perceived as influenced by foreign values (see, for example, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Guidance Note on the International Protection Needs of People Fleeing Afghanistan (Update I), February 2023, § 16 (iv), and European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), Country Guidance: Afghanistan 2024, 17 May 2024, Common analysis, sections 3.13 and 3.14.2)?