Brief of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the case O.L.B.D., petitioner, v. William P. Barr, Attorney General, respondent

UNHCR has a specific interest in this matter because the Board rested its decision on the former Attorney General’s decision in Matter of A-B-, 27 I. & N. Dec. 316 (A.G. 2018), which diverges from UNHCR’s authoritative interpretation of States’ obligations under the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol in several key respects. In particular, the decision conflicts with UNHCR’s interpretations of (1) the definition of a “particular social group,” (2) the standard used to assess whether states are “unable or unwilling” to provide effective protection against non-state agents of persecution, and (3) the “nexus” requirement concerning whether persecution by non-state actors is “on account of” membership in a particular social group.