Article 21 - Declaration of Class of Persons as Refugees

1/ The Agency may declare any group of persons that meet the criteria set out in Article 5 of this Proclamation as refugees. 2/ When recognizing a group of asylum-seekers as refugees in accordance with this Article, the Agency shall, in consultation with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, issue a detailed Directive containing a description of the events in the country of origin or former habitual residence of the asylum-seekers underlying the decision, the characteristics of the group of beneficiaries to whom the decision applies and the applicable date of the decision. 3/ Notwithstanding sub-Article (2) of this Article, the Agency may decide to give group refugee status benefit for those who left their country of origin or former habitual residence prior to the applicable date of the decision. 4/ The Agency shall issue a Directive terminating the group refugee recognition procedure when determining, giving due consideration to country-of-origin information and in consultation with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, that the circumstances which led to the group refugee recognition has ceased to exist.