CEDAW/C/73/D/86/2015 on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women. 3.3 The author also notes that, upon her return, she would not be able to seek protection from the Jordanian authorities, owing to legislation, legal practices and cultural norms that are discriminatory against women in the country. 2 She adds that, even though she holds a Jordanian passport, she is a stateless Palestinian refugee and her status renders her even more defenceless before the Jordanian authorities. 3.4 She submits that, considering that a warrant has been issued for her arrest and that she has been sentenced in absentia to two years’ imprisonment, she will be arrested upon her return to Jordan. Her spouse will therefore be granted full custody of their daughters, whom she will be unable to defend. Furthermore, the author submits that she will be coerced into accepting the forced marriage of her daughter to a much older man. 3.5 The author also submits that weight should be given to the fact that she has no family ties in Jordan and has lived an isolated life, in which she has been controlled by her husband, and therefore has no social network to support her there. 3.6 The author further submits that having been required to seek permission from her spouse to leave Jordan with her daughters, in accordance with the existing practice of the Jordanian authorities, amounts to a violation of her rights under article 15 (4) of the Convention. 3 State party’s observations on admissibility and the merits 4.1 On 30 October 2015, the State party submitted its observations on the admissibility and the merits of the communication and requested that the Committee lift its request for interim measures of protection. 4.2 The State party recalls the facts of the case, 4 and provides a comprehensive description of the organization, composition, duties, prerogatives and jurisdiction of the Refugee Appeals Board. It also takes into account the guarantees safeguarding the fairness of asylum proceedings, including legal representation, the presence of an interpreter and the right to appeal. It notes that the Board has a comprehensive collection of general background materials on the human rights records of the countries of origin of asylum seekers, which is regularly updated and duly considered in decision-making processes. __________________ 2 3 4 4/13 In that regard, she refers to various background materials, such as the concluding observations of the Committee against Torture on the second periodic report of Jordan ( CAT/C/JOR/CO/2); the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, on her mission to Jordan (A/HRC/20/16/Add.1); and the study of women’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa conducted by Freedom House in 2010. Available from https://freedomhouse.org/ report/women039s-rights-middle-east-and-north-africa/womens-rights-middle-east-and-northafrica-2010. Under the Provisional Passport Law of Jordan, women are no longer required to seek their husband’s permission before obtaining or renewing their travel documents, however, social norms continue to play a major role in that regard and, in practice, women and their children are barred from traveling by their husbands. The State party submits that the author entered Denmark with her two minor children on 17 November 2012 with a valid Schengen visa for Denmark issued by the Norwegian Emba ssy in Amman. The State party notes that, according to the facts as presented before the Danish authorities, the author, after having stayed in Denmark for about one month, then travelled on to Sweden, where she applied for asylum on 7 April 2013. On 4 Jul y 2013, Sweden requested that Denmark take back the author, in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Dublin Regulation. On 10 July 2013, Denmark agreed to that request. T he author entered Denmark on 16 August 2013 and applied for asylum on the same date. 19-15427