The Lounani case: when can a member of a terrorist group be excluded from refugee status? A person applying for protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention can be excluded from its provisions under certain circumstances. As the Court of Justice of the European Union explained in B and D in 2010, these circumstances include those guilty of committing terrorist attacks. The background facts Mr Lounani left Morocco in 1991. He travelled to Germany where he submitted an application for asylum which was rejected. He then travelled to Belgium. He has resided illegally there since 1997. The legal framework The first port of call is the Refugee Convention itself. Article 1F states that: · The provisions of this Convention shall not apply to any person with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that: · …. (b). he has committed a s...