ASYLNYTT

The updated AIDA Country Reports provide detailed overviews on legislative and practice-related developments in asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2021.

Updated reports are available for Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The United Kingdom,

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Arkiveringsdatum 220215:

Mobile Infoteam 22-01-22:

Grekland/ Control and containment: Changes in access to asylum

At the end of November 2021, the Greek Government announced major changes in access to asylum for people seeking safety on mainland Greece, Crete and Rhodes. This policy saw the termination of the Skype pre-registration system for the registration of asylum claims. Instead, people seeking safety will now need to go to two reception centres on the mainland of Greece. However, such centres are not yet operational meaning that there has been no access to asylum for the majority of people on mainland Greece, Crete and Rhodes since 22 November 2021.

Temporarily blocking access to asylum not only leaves people in need of protection at risk, undocumented and destitue, it also violates national and international law. Even when such reception centres are opened, this policy will force people into de facto detention under prison-like conditions. Closed reception centres with policies of indiscriminate detention for men, women and children stand in contrast to any notion of protection, negatively impacting people's mental health, autonomy, liberty and ability to rebuild their lives.

An increasing number of people have been entering Greece via the mainland over the past six years with 2021 being the first year that more people entered Greece via the mainland than the sea (53%). Our projected impact analysis forecasts that Greece would need to register between 30,160 and 44,000 people annually on the mainland alone. This policy change will therefore undoubtedly have a significant impact on the lives of tens of thousands of people seeking safety in Europe.

The abrupt change in policy has left people in an information void. There are currently no details available on how and when individuals can enter the asylum system. It is deeply concerning that the Greek authorities are denying people access to the asylum system without offering any interim measures or information on how and when people can expect to register their asylum claims.

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Arkiveringsdatum 210125:

Asylnytt 21-01-25:

Ungern/ Ungern fälls i EU-domstolen för ett asylsystem som bryter mot flera direktiv

Ungern införde 2015 systemet med transitzoner vid gränsen och begränsningar av möjligheten att söka asyl, men hänvisning till "krissituation orsakad av massinvandring". År 2017 antogs en ny lag med ytterligare begränsningar. EU-kommissionen väckte då talan hos EU-domstolen om brott mot EU-direktiven om asylprocedur, mottagande och återvändande. Sedan dess har Ungern dömts av EU-domstolen på grund av klagomål från enskilda vilket lett till att Ungern stängt transitområdena, men samtidigt ytterligare försvårat att söka asyl i Ungern. Den nu avkunnade domen avser Ungerns regler som de var utformade 2018. EU-domstolen går i stort sett på EU-kommissionens linje och deklarerar att Ungern bryter mot direktiven i fyra avseenden: 1) Ungern har gjort det i praktiken nästan omöjligt att göra en asylsansökan vid gränsen. 2) Ungern tar i praktiken alla asylsökande (utom ensamkommande under 14 år) i förvar och tillämpar inte reglerna om hur förvarsbeslut ska fattas. 3) Ungern verkställer utvisningar utan att uppfylla några rättssäkerhetsgarantier och genom att placera människor inhägnade vid gränsövergången till Serbien så att de måste lämna Ungern för att överleva. 4) Ungern tillåter inte asylsökande att stanna kvar tills överklagande avgrjorts eller under någon tidsfrist över huvud taget.

Läs pressmeddelande i mål C 808/18, Europeiska kommissionen mot Ungern (Extern länk till pdf-fil)

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Legal Centre Lesvos / Statewatch 21-01-14:

Grekland/ Legal actors express concerns regarding the lack of state free legal aid

A group of legal organisations active on Lesvos are demanding that the Greek state meet its legal obligation to provide free legal aid in asylum cases. As of 11 January, the Regional Asylum Office of Lesvos is to start issuing first instance rejections and accepting appeals from asylum applicants, for the first time in four months - but without giving individuals access to legal aid, making it impossible for them to file an appeal.

Mytilene, 11th of January 2021: Starting from today 11th of January, and for the first time in 4 months, the Regional Asylum Office of Lesvos will begin notifying applicants on Lesvos with first instance rejections and will also start accepting appeals against these decisions. However, the procedure is restarting without the guarantee of state free legal aid from the Register of Lawyers of the Asylum Service.

It is explicitly and emphatically reminded that the provision of free legal aid from the Register of Lawyers is an obligation of the Greek state and is clearly essential in order for the applicants to understand and exercise their legal rights and duties(1). Moreover, according to the law, the appeal should clearly specify the reasons on which it is based, otherwise it will be rejected as inadmissible(2). It is evident that without legal aid applicants cannot adequately articulate the legal and factual grounds on which their appeals are based, particularly taking into consideration the requirement that such appeals be submitted in writing in Greek language.

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Arkiveringsdatum 210111:

Public Law Project 20-12-17:

Storbritannien/ Experiencing Asylum Appeals

There is ongoing concern that Britain's courts are places that are overwhelming, disorientating and confusing for court users. Asylum seekers are some of the most marginalised people in society and existing research highlights the difficulties they face in disclosing evidence throughout the legal process. Without an accessible process, appellants may be unable or unwilling to speak and participate in their appeal, and therefore important pieces of evidence may not be considered and justice may not be served.

Although a lot of attention has been paid to asylum law by academics and policy makers alike, its day to day implementation often escapes critical academic scrutiny. This is arguably because relatively few non-legal scholars study the law, meaning that most analysis is focussed on substantive and doctrinal legal issues rather than questions of process, implementation and experience. It is also extremely time consuming to observe a sufficient number of hearings to be able to draw general conclusions about day to day issues.

Our project adopts an inter-disciplinary perspective on the day to day workings of asylum law within the UK's asylum appeal hearings. In the following sections we report on a project which examined what happens during asylum appeals by closely observing them from the public areas of hearing rooms. Our observations ran from 2013 to 2019. We complement the perspective our observations offer with interview evidence from appellants as well as others involved in the process.

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Arkiveringsdatum 201207:

ECRE 20-11-20:

Europa/ Study on the implementation of border procedures reveals major flaws

Last week, ECRE's contribution to the implementation of asylum procedures at the border, has been published by the European Parliament Research Service (EPRS) which commissioned it. The entire European Implementation Assessment paper on border procedures contains three parts. Besides the in-house research conducted by the EPRS itself, there is also part on the legal assessment of Article 43 on border procedures carried out by Dr Galina Cornelisse and Dr Marcelle Reneman of the Free University of Amsterdam, and the comparative analysis on the application in practice of Article 43 of the Asylum procedure directive that was carried out by ECRE (p.145 and further).

The study carried out by ECRE covers seven countries: France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The study relies on desk research and a variety of sources including qualitative and quantitative information on national practices extracted from the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) managed by ECRE. National experts from the analysed countries further provided thorough and valuable feedback.

Member States' practice differs significantly when it comes to both the design and use of the border procedure, as allowed by the discretionary nature of Article 43 recast APD. However, similarities occur: whether applied at land, sea or air borders, border procedures involve a variety of authorities and they are invariably characterised by short deadlines for decision-making and for lodging appeals, a lack of information to (potential) applicants, and reduced accessibility for interpreters, NGOs and legal aid providers. This due to the locations where procedures are conducted and where applicants are (officially or de facto) detained. The evidence suggests a more restrictive approach to protection claims in border procedures compared to similar caseloads examined in regular procedures, and further suggests that significant protection gaps result from the unavailability or inadequacy of procedural guarantees.

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Arkiveringsdatum 201002:

ELENA legal update 20-09-25:

Finland/ Court rules on the obligation to provide guarantees to vulnerable applicants

On 7 September 2020, the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland ruled that an officer of the Finish Immigration Service (FIS) is obliged, under section 96(a) of the Aliens Act, to consider the individual status and circumstances of an asylum applicant by identifying an applicant in need of special procedural guarantees and providing them with the necessary support to enable them to exercise their rights and fulfil their obligations in the asylum procedure.

The case concerns the rejection of an application for international protection lodged by a Somali national who had submitted that she had suffered repeated sexual violence perpetrated by Al-Shabaab. The female applicant's interview for international protection was conducted in the presence of a male interviewer and interpreter. The FIS rejected the application for international protection and a residence permit and ordered her return to Somalia. The Administrative Court denied the applicant an oral hearing and concluded that the appeal against the FIS decision was unfounded.

The Supreme Court was asked to consider whether the FIS decision was unlawful because the applicant was not offered the opportunity to have an interviewer and interpreter of the same sex present at her interview, especially given the reliance on sexual violence as a basis for her application for international protection.

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Arkiveringsdatum 200913:

ECRE 20-08-28:

Danmark/ Are most asylum seekers really not credible?

By Michala Clante Bendixen, founder of the Danish organisation Refugees Welcome and the information website REFUGEES.DK.

"Rejected asylum seekers must respect the decision and return home" - it sounds plausible enough to be the political consensus. But a prerequisite for this is of course that the decision of the asylum case was correct to begin with. In Denmark, most rejections are the result of the applicant found not to be credible. I argue that the decisions are not reliable - and that many of the rejected people could therefore be in danger.

As a result of the Danish exceptions to the Maastricht treaty, Denmark is in a particular situation of having an opt-out option in relation to the development of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) as well as potential legislation related to the announced European Pact on Asylum and Migration. However, Denmark is like all other member states bound by central EU and international law and is also under the Dublin regulation.

Yet, beyond the international conventions, human rights principles and rulings from the international courts, each country has its own asylum procedure, its own legislation, and its own practise. At the core of all asylum cases are the ability of the applicants to provide a coherent and detailed account of often extremely traumatic and confusing experiences. In most cases an asylum applicant would have little or no written documentation or personal papers to support them, and the decision is therefore not based on concrete tangible evidence, witness statements, physical evidence etc. as it would be in a regular court case, but mainly on the assessment of the applicant's personal credibility and the risk he/she is facing in the country of origin. Therefore, the outcome depends to a large extent on the perceptions of the people involved in the procedure: the interviewer, the interpreter, the decisionmaker.

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På danska: "Velbegrundet Frygt - om troværdighed og risiko i asylsager" (Extern länk)

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Arkiveringsdatum 200831:

ECRE 20-07-27:

Europa/ Asylum in Europe 2019: human rights under pressure

Evidence from the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) shows that compliance with existing EU asylum law should be a priority

The Asylum Information Database (AIDA) is a database managed by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), containing up-to-date and comprehensive information on asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention and the content of international protection across 23 European countries. ECRE has now concluded the cycle of updating the country reports to cover the year 2019. Despite the challenging circumstances under which many of our national experts had to deliver this year's update, we collectively managed to achieve the objective of providing accurate and quality information on asylum systems in Europe. The database is widely relied upon by European and national policy makers, legal practitioners and Courts, for example, the European Commission uses it in its monitoring activities as does EASO for its annual reports.

The evidence collected through AIDA confirms the worrying trend of violations of human rights of people in need of protection both at the internal and external borders of Europe. It indicates a further restriction of rights in national legal systems and practice, raising serious questions as to compliance with EU law.

Restricting access to asylum, including access to territory

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AIDA 20-07-23:

Tyskland/ AIDA 2019 Update

The updated Country Report on Germany provides a detailed overview of the main developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

The year 2019 was marked by two main trends:

An extensive reform of German asylum and migration legislation: Seven laws were enacted as part of the so-called "migration package" in July 2019 and introduced numerous changes to the Asylum Act (Asylgesetz), the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz), the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz) and several other accompanying laws.

A high proportion of "family protection" cases: Around 80% of the persons recognised as refugees in Germany in 2019 were granted protection status because they were family members (i.e. spouses or minor children) of a person who had already been granted protection. The proportion of such "family protection" decisions has significantly increased in recent years. In more than 50% of these cases, protection was granted to children who were born in Germany.

The main changes can be summarised as follows:

Asylum procedure

The reform introduced a state-run counselling service for asylum seekers to be established in all initial reception centres. This service is meant to provide general information to asylum seekers about the proceedings but it does not amount to legal advice. Moreover, medical grounds brought forward in the asylum procedure must now be verified through a comprehensive medical certificate.

Reception conditions

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Arkiveringsdatum 200805:

Asylnytt 20-08-05:

Ukraina/ Ukraina fälls av Europadomstolen för utvisning utan ordentlig asylprocedur

En ung man från Afghanistan försökte år 2010 ta sig in i Europa via Ukraina och Slovakien. Han greps i Slovakien och skickades tillbaka till Ukraina. Där togs han i förvar och fick ett utvisningsbeslut som verkställdes i mars 2011. Enligt mannen hade hans far dödats på grund av sitt arbete för Afghanistansk säkerhetstjänst och han själv hade hotats av skäl som hängde samman med detta. Inför Europadomstolen har han hävdat att både Slovakiens och Ukrainas asylprocedur varit otillräcklig, att han inte fått information på sitt språk och att utvisningen verkställts utan att han haft möljighet att överklaga. Efter utvisningen har han tvingats hålla sig undan och byta bostadsort ofta. Domstolen finner (efter nio års handläggning) att anklagelserna mot Slovakien är ogrundade, men att Ukraina bröt mot Europakonventionen om mänskliga rättigheter genom att inte utreda den sökandes asylskäl innan han utvisades genom ett beslut grundat på irrelevanta omständigheter och som innehöll motstridiga påståenden och genom att han inte informerades om beslutet förrän han förts till flygplatsen. Han hade dessutom inte informerats om varför han togs i förvar och varken fått tillgång till tolk eller juridiskt biträde.

Case of M.S. v. Slovakia and Ukraine, application no. 17189/11 (Extern länk)

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Arkiveringsdatum 200715:

EU-domstolen 20-06-25:

Ungern/ Kommissionen drar Ungern inför EU-domstolen för undermålig asylprocedur

Pressmeddelande från EU-domstolen, generaladvokaten:

According to Advocate General Pikamäe, Hungary has failed to fulfil obligations arising from EU law in relation to a substantial part of its national legislation on asylum procedures and the return of illegally staying third-country nationals

In particular, it should be established that there has been a failure to fulfil obligations for breach of ensuring effective access to the asylum procedure, and for breach of the procedural safeguards relating to applications for international protection, to the unlawful detention of applicants for that protection in transit zones and to the unlawful removal of illegally staying third-country nationals

The Commission has brought an action for failure to fulfil obligations against Hungary before the Court of Justice seeking a declaration that a substantial part of the national legislation of that Member State on the right to asylum and on the return of illegally staying third-country nationals is contrary to EU law and more specifically the 'Procedures'1 'Reception'2 and 'Return' 3 Directives.

In particular, the Commission alleges that Hungary has infringed the procedural safeguards relating to applications for international protection, has unlawfully detained applicants for that protection in transit zones and has unlawfully removed illegally staying third-country nationals.

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AIDA 20-06-23:

Grekland/ Country Report update: 2019

The updated AIDA Country Report on Greece tracks numerous legislative, policy and practice-related developments relating to the asylum procedure, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers, and content of international protection. While it mainly covers the year 2019, it also contains information on the first five months of 2020 as well as COVID-19 related measures.

48 % increase of arrivals in 2019

In 2019, 74,613 persons arrived in Greece. This is an increase of 48% compared to 2018. Out of those a total of 59,726 persons arrived in Greece by sea in 2019, compared to 32,494 in 2018. The majority originated from Afghanistan (40%), Syria (27.4%) and DRC (6.7%). More than half of the population were women (23%) and children (36%), while 41% were adult men.

The average processing time at first instance also increased in 2019, reaching about 10.3 months, compared to 8.5 months in 2018. Out of the total of 87,461 applications pending by the end of 2019, in 81.6% of the cases the personal interview had not yet taken place and in 67% of the cases the interview is scheduled for the second semester of 2020 or even after 2020. In certain cases, interviews have been scheduled as late as 2023 and even 2024.

Pushbacks and suspension of the asylum procedure

The increase in the number of alleged pushbacks at the Greek-Turkish border of Evros continued during 2019. The United Nations Committee Against Torture expressed serious concerns as regards the principle of non-refoulement. Incidents of pushbacks are also reported at the Aegean Sea since 2020, as pointed out by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights in early March 2020.

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Arkiveringsdatum 200624:

AIDA 20-05-20:

Serbien/ Update of country report: 2019

The updated Country Report on Serbia documents the main developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

Asylum procedure

Access to the territory remains a serious concern as a significant number of pushbacks persisted in 2019. At least 16,000 persons likely to be in need of international protection were pushed back by Serbian border police authorities to Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Serious concerns about the practices carried out by the Border Police Station Belgrade (BPSB) at the airport have also been reported, putting individuals at risk of refoulement.

The procedure at first instance has been significantly improved as the Asylum Office has stopped its previous practice of automatically applying the 'safe third country concept'. This means that for the first time in the history of the Serbian asylum system, the majority of applications for international protection were examined on the merits. However, inconsistencies in the decision-making process continued to be reported in certain cases - thus requiring enhanced harmonization - and the overall length of the first instance procedure remains very lengthy. No imrpovement was noted with regard to the procedure at second instance. The Asylum Commission and Administrative Courts continued to systematically uphold first instance decisions, thus rendering the chances of success of appeals extremely low.

Reception conditions

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AIDA 20-05-27:

Italien/ Update of country report: 2019

The updated Country Report on Italy documents the main developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

Access to the territory and the asylum procedure

Closed ports policy, indirect refoulement to Libya and privatised pushbacks policy were reported in 2019. At least 8,406 people were tracked down by the Libyan coastguard and brought back to Libya. Despite the opposition of numerous associations including ASGI, and the call of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the Memorandum of Understanding between Italy and Libya, also judged by a Criminal Court to be not conform the Italian Constitution and to international laws, has been renewed in February 2020.

In 2019 the Civil Court of Rome allowed access to the asylum procedure from abroad to some Eritreans who were unlawfully returned to Libya in 2009. In two other cases, it ordered to issue humanitarian visas to allow the entry of minors, one of whom was in Libya.

A border procedure, applicable in border areas and transit zones, that was introduced last year in the legal framework has now been implemented, following a ministerial decree. This decree identifies the border and transit areas where the accelerated procedure for the examination of asylum applications applies when a person evades or attempts to evade border controls. The first applications of the decree have already revealed a controversial application of the concept of "border controls' evasion. A list of 13 safe countries of origin has also been adopted.

It has further reported that there is a disproportionate and incorrect use of manifestly unfounded decisions in asylum applications examined within accelerated procedures, which compromises the rights of defence and protection of asylum seekers.

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Se även:

Aida 2019 update: Ireland (Extern länk)

Aida 2019 update: Serbien (Extern länk)

Aida 2019 update: Grekland (Extern länk)

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Arkiveringsdatum 200523:

AIDA 20-04-29:

Turkiet/ AIDA 2019 update

The updated Country Report on Turkey documents the main developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international and temporary protection in 2019.

Turkey currently hosts both a population of over 3,5 million refugees from neighbouring Syria and several hundred thousand asylum seekers and beneficiaries of protection of other nationalities, most principally originating from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia. These two populations of protection seekers are subject to two different sets of asylum rules and procedures. As such, the Turkish asylum system has a dual structure. In line with the legislative framework the report is divided into two sections, the first on international protection and the second on temporary protection (for Syrian nationals and stateless Palestinians originating from Syria).

The European Union (EU) continued to provide funding and support to the Turkish authorities through the EU-Turkey statement in 2019, including considerable sums for education. The EU also provides significant funding for detention in Turkey thus supporting the construction of 6 detention centres with six more centres to be co-financed.

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Se även:

AIDA 20-04-23: 2019 update: Malta (Extern länk)

AIDA 20-04-29: 2019 update: Romania (Extern länk)

AIDA 20-05-11: 2019 update: Sweden (Extern länk)

AIDA 20-05-13: 2019 update: Portugal (Extern länk)

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AIDA 20-04-29:

Rumänien/ AIDA 2019 update

The updated Country Report on Romania documents the main developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

Reports from UNHCR Serbia show that in 2019 1,561 persons were collectively expelled from Romania to Serbia, with higher numbers registered in the last months of the year. This is an increase in the number in comparison to 2018 (during which 746 persons were collectively expelled). The Border Police reported that a total of 2,048 persons were apprehended for irregular entry in 2019. In 2019, as well as in 2018, it was reported that unaccompanied children who were apprehended trying to cross irregularly the border from Serbia to Romania, were prosecuted for having crossed illegally the border and for migrant smuggling. The children were held in pre-trial detention.

In 2019, 2,587 first time applicants applied for international protection. The availability and quality of interpretation has remained an issue, throughout 2019, including at the border. In some regions the authorities still use double interpretation. In 2019 interviews were conducted through videoconferencing in most of the regional centres, when there was no interpreter of certain languages.

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AIDA 20-04-23:

Malta/ AIDA 2019 update

The updated Country Report on Malta provides a detailed overview of the main developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

2019 saw an increase in sea arrivals to Malta due to the ending of an informal agreement between Malta and Italy where Italy had agreed for migrants rescued in Maltese territorial waters to be disembarked in Italy. As a result of the rise in arrivals and the saturation of the reception system, the Maltese authorities in 2019 decided to detain each and every person arriving irregularly to the country under national health regulations. Such systematic detention is applicable to unaccompanied children, families and vulnerable persons and it has been implemented on the ground that there is a reasonable suspicion that new arrivals might spread contagious diseases. The health regulations allow the authorities to restrict a person's movements for up to four weeks - with a possible extension of up to ten weeks - on suspicion that a disease may be spread. In practice, no form of assessment is conducted, and applicants are only provided with a simple document stating the duration of detention. In addition, despite the limitation on the duration of detention as provided by the health regulations, it has been observed that applicants would not be released even after they were medically screened and cleared. Instead, individuals would only be released when a place is made available in open centres. This is also the case for children and vulnerable persons.

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Arkiveringsdatum 200426:

AIDA 20-04-16:

Polen/ AIDA 2019 update: Poland

The updated Country Report on Poland provides a detailed overview of the main developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

Asylum procedure

Access to the territory and to the asylum procedure at the border in Terespol remains one of the main challenges in 2019, with about 4,378 persons being refused entry there. While civil society organisations and other actors continue to document unlawful practices and incidents occurring at the border, the Polish government denies any allegations in this regard. Moreover, there is still no border procedure in Poland, but the bill that had been presented in 2017 with the aim to introduce such a procedure has been updated in 2019. The latter also provides for the adoption of a list of safe countries of origin and safe third countries. Several NGOs raised concerns and commented on the bill, which was still under discussion as of February 2020.

Other issues reported during the asylum procedure relate to improper interpretation, for which asylum seekers are sometimes being held responsible, as well as issues in the recording of interviews. Despite the new call for proposal for funding possibilities which finally opened to NGOs in 2019 after three years of suspension, access to legal assistance remains severely limited in practice.

The main development in 2019 concerns onward appeals to the Administrative Courts, as the latter have started to suspend the enforcement of negative decisions during appeal proceedings, thus protecting applicants against refoulement during this time. The Supreme Administrative Court also issued judgements in 2019 in which the suspensive effect was upheld.

Reception conditions

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AIDA 20-04-22:

Kroatien/ AIDA 2019 update: Croatia

The updated Country Report on Croatia documents the main developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

Access to territory and situation at Croatian border

It sheds light in particular on the situation at the Croatian border where push backs and violent police practices have been documented, affecting several thousands of persons. Overall, the Ministry of Interior stated that, from January to September 2019, it had prevented 9,487 people in their attempt to illegally cross the border, which marks a significant increase of 200% compared to the same period in 2018. This strict border regime limits access to the territory and to the asylum procedure. It puts individuals at risk of serious human rights violations, including vulnerable groups, and is particularly worrying in light of the level of violence that has been reported, involving incidents of torture, shootings, accidents and deaths of migrants in certain cases. The situation at the border is being heavily criticised by a variety of national and international organisations and is under particular scrutiny in the context of Croatia's accession to Schengen.

Asylum procedure and reception conditions

Other developments relevant to the asylum procedure include inter alia the re-structuring of the determining authority, concerns regarding the length of appeal procedures as well as the Constitutional Court's ruling highlighting the importance of thoroughly examining individual circumstances in subsequent applications.

As regards reception, the living conditions in the Reception Centre in Zagreb have significantly improved following renovations. These were carried out, however, because the local population voiced strong opposition against the creation of a new Reception Centre near Petrinja, in Mala Gorica, as was initially planned in 2018. Hate speech and discrimination has been reported as a growing issue in Croatia in 2019.

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Arkiveringsdatum 200410:

AIDA 20-03-26:

Österrike/ AIDA 2019 update: Austria

The updated AIDA Country Report on Austria documents numerous legislative, policy and practice developments relating to the asylum procedure, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers, and content of international protection.

It draws particular attention to the introduction of the law establishing a Federal Agency for Supervision and Support Services (Bundesagentur für Betreuungs- und Unterstützungsleistungen, BBU-G) which will drastically change the Austrian legal aid system. This law foresees that the new Federal Agency will be in charge of providing both reception conditions (i.e. basic care) and legal assistance to asylum seekers in first and second instance as of January 2021, thus excluding the possibility for NGOs to receive funding to that end. The cancellation of their contracts with the Government has been confirmed at the end of February 2020. Moreover, the Federal Agency falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior, whose influence will inevitably affect the provision of objective and independent legal assistance.

Other persisting issues relate to the conditions in return and detention centres, as confirmed by several civil society organisations and United Nations (UN) bodies. Detention of vulnerable persons, capacity gaps and the lack of training of detention staff remain unaddressed concerns. Furthermore, the increased focus of the determining authority on procedures withdrawing the protection status, in particular of Afghan nationals, has also been reported in 2019 and seems to be exacerbated by important discrepancies in the rulings of the Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court on the matter.

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AIDA 20-04-09:

Spanien/ AIDA 2019 update: Spain

The updated country report on Spain documents the most recent developments in the Spanish asylum system, i.e. legislative and practice-related changes in the asylum procedure, reception conditions, detention and content of international protection. It demonstrates that Spain still faces important difficulties in adapting to the increase of new arrivals and the number of applications for international protection.

Access to territory

Refusal of entry, collective expulsions and push backs persisted throughout 2019, as a result of which asylum applicants resort to dangerous practices and put their lives at risk to access the territory. While the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment of February 2020 in the case of N.D and N.T v Spain failed to condemn Spain for such practices, civil society organisations and other actors have continued to raise serious concerns and to document the numerous incidents occuring at the Spanish border.

Asylum procedure

The average processing times of asylum claims (which can reach up to 2 years), the significant increase of the backlog of cases (111,740 at the end of 2019 compared to 68,779 at the end of 2018) as well as the quality of the asylum procedure continue to be heavily criticised. The situation of vulnerable groups is of particular concern as identification and referral mechanisms are still lacking. More particularly, several NGOs have qualified the lack of support to victims of human trafficking as one of the most important issue in 2019, despite the Government's efforts on the matter.

Reception and detention conditions

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AIDA 20-03-26:

Slovenien/ AIDA 2019 update: Slovenia

The updated country report on Slovenia documents developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

Reports of individuals being denied access to the asylum procedure by Slovenian police at the Slovenian border with Croatia have continued to surface in 2019, a practice which has persisted since 2018. An independent investigation by the Slovenian Ombudsman has revealed that there is an absence of a thorough assessment of the personal circumstances of individuals at the border by the police. Moreover, according to statistics in 2019, expressions of the intention to apply for asylum remain very low, despite a rise in the number of documented illegal border crossings. This has led the Slovenian Ombudsman and NGOs in the country to conclude that individuals are prevented from expressing their intention to apply for international protection; a finding which is only reinforced by data highlighting a significant increase in 2019 of the number of returns to Croatia based on the bilateral readmission agreement between Slovenia and Croatia.

In a similar vein, the updated report notes recent jurisprudential developments in Slovenia pertaining to access to the territory, notably legislative amendments which would allow the state to limit access to the territory for asylum seekers in case of a large number of arrivals. According to a recent ruling of the Constitutional Court in Slovenia, such amendments were in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.

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AIDA 20-04-09:

Schweiz/ AIDA 2019 update: Switzerland

The updated country report on Switzerland describes the functioning of the new asylum procedure which entered into force in March 2019. It documents the most recent legislative and practice-related changes in the asylum procedure, reception conditions, detention and content of international protection.

New asylum procedure

The overall aim of the new system is to significantly speed up the procedure, including by bringing together the main actors of the procedure "under the same roof"; namely in federal centres located in six defined regions in Switzerland. The reform sets up several procedures (accelerated, extended, Dublin) strictly limited in time, thus shortening processing times and deadlines for appeals.

Against that backdrop, the new asylum system introduces several safeguards such as the right for asylum seekers to receive information, free counselling and legal representation at first instance, regardless of the applicable procedure. However, the shortened deadlines put the asylum authorities under significant pressure and risk to undermine an adequate examination of medical needs and related evidence. This was confirmed by the recent case law of the Federal Administrative Court which highlighted several shortcomings in this regard.

Reception conditions

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AIDA 20-04-02:

Nederländerna/ AIDA 2019 update: Netherlands

The updated country report on the Netherlands documents developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

2019 has been marked by a significant delay in the asylum procedure, which further continued in 2020. In February 2020, almost 9,000 asylum seekers were still awaiting - some of them for almost two years - the start of their asylum procedure. Asylum seekers stay in a rest and preparation period, which should normally take around six days after which the actual asylum procedure should start. In 2018, this period has been considerably extended. Due to capacity problems within the Immigration Authorities (IND), this has not changed in 2019. The rest and preparation period still takes about 12 months (in general 47 weeks) before the general asylum procedure takes place. The Secretary of State of Justice announced that it will be difficult to reduce the delay by 2021, but measures are being taken to limit the delay. The Dutch Council for Refugees reported that the excessive waiting time in the rest and preparation period created tension in the centers and serious concerns among asylum seekers about family reunification.

Due to the long waiting times at the IND, applicants also spend longer periods in the reception centres. The COA has announced that they will need 5000 extra places in 2020 due to this development. At the end of 2019, the State Secretary announced she wanted to open separate reception locations for applicants originating from safe countries of origin. However, at this point there have been no concrete plans for these locations.

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AIDA 20-04-02:

Frankrike/ AIDA 2019 update: France

The updated AIDA Country Report on France details legislative and practice-related developments in asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection.

Access to the territory

In 2019, France notified the European Commission of the temporary reintroduction of border control at internal borders until 30 April 2020. The Council of State has further validated in October 2019 a decision of reintroduction of temporary border controls that had been taken in 2018. The practice of systematic refusal of entry of persons arriving at the Italian land border persisted in 2019 regardless of protection needs of asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors.

Asylum procedures

The length of the asylum procedure remains a concern. While the average waiting time to register asylum claims has decreased since 2018, the Council of State confirmed in July 2019 that waiting times remained an issue and ordered the authorities to take measures to comply with the time limits laid down in law. In the Ile-de-France region, asylum seekers face an additional administrative layer in the registration process resulting from the telephone appointment system operated by the French Office of Immigration and Integration (OFII). In November 2019, the Administrative Court of Paris thus ordered the Prefecture to increase the number of daily appointments.

Reception conditions

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AIDA 20-04-02:

Cypern/ AIDA 2019 update: Cyprus

The updated AIDA Country Report on Cyprus documents numerous legislative, policy and practice developments relating to the asylum procedure, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers, and content of international protection.

Significant changes have been set in motion with respect to the asylum system in Cyprus during 2019 and early 2020. These changes, as well as proposed amendments, have been put in place as a result of the increasingly high numbers of arrivals to the country as well as reactions to the escalation of Covid-19. In particular, the conversion of an Emergency Reception Centre into a First Registration Reception Centre with an increased capacity is underway. The centre is intended to reach a capacity of approximately 800 persons however it currently has a capacity of 350-400. Since Covid-19 developments this centre is operating as a closed centre and is hosting around 700 persons. No time-limit to this de facto detention has been announced. Such practice appears to be in stark contrast to case-law developments in 2019 where the International Protection Administrative Court of Cyprus has annulled detention decisions on the basis that there had been a lack of examination of alternative measures to detention and an absence of a proportionality and necessity examination prior to ordering the detention.

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AIDA 20-04-09:

Belgien/ AIDA 2019 update: Belgium

The updated country report on Belgium documents developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

2019 was marked by a significant delay in the processing of asylum applications, and the lack of reception accommodation, resulting in asylum seekers left homeless and destitute. Despite the numerous warnings of the federal reception agency for asylum seekers Fedasil as well as civil society actors, a new reception crisis emerged in 2019. This is due to the government' scaling down of capacity to adapt reception systems to a drop in asylum applications in previous years, which was therefore not able to address the increase of applications for international protection in 2019. Moreover, as a result of the lack of staff within the determining authority, asylum procedures took longer and asylum seekers had to remain in reception centers for longer periods. The saturation of Fedasil's reception network also led to a suspension of resettlement operations of refugees since July 2019.

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Statewatch News 20-03-30:

Grekland/ MEPs, migration policy experts call for urgent action to uphold refugee rights

Over 100 MEPs from four political groups in the European Parliament have called on the European Commission to take action so that "fundamental rights and the right to asylum" are upheld in Greece. Their calls have been echoed by dozens of migration policy experts working on EU-funded projects.

The MEPs' letter, sent on 25 March and signed by MEPs from the Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL, Socialists & Democrats and Renew Europe groups, highlights "serious concerns regarding the use of COVID 19 epidemic to justify denial of the right to seek international protection at our borders, detention of asylum-seekers and forced returns to situations of danger."

The letter from EU-funded researchers, who have worked on numerous collaborative research projects examining how to improve EU migration policy, expresses "paramount concern regarding the violent course of action that is taken by the EU and individual member states in these testing times," and notes that the EU's actions are "doubly disturbing" - firstly, because expert advice and knowledge has been totally disregarded; and secondly, because the policies being promoted and implemented on the ground "fail to meet minimal human rights standards".

The MEPs also urge the Commission "to act regarding the serious deficiencies that have started in Greece before the COVID-19 outbreak and keep deteriorating," in particular with regard to the Greek government's decision to suspend access to the asylum procedure for a month.

"This is not to be understood as a "monthly delay" in the possibility to lodge an application but, literally, as banning access to all asylum procedures for the people who enter the country irregularly in seek of international protection, whilst there are no legal entry possibilities provided," says the letter.

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Arkiveringsdatum 200324:

AIDA 20-03-12:

Ungern/ AIDA 2019 update: Hungary

The updated country report on Hungary documents developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

The quasi-state of exception that has been introduced into Hungarian law in September 2015, entitled as the "state of crisis due to mass migration", has been extended once again until 7 September 2020. During this state of crisis special rules apply. This means inter alia that asylum may still only be sought at the border, inside the transit zone (unless the applicant is already residing lawfully in the territory of Hungary) and that asylum seekers are continued to be held in the transit zones for the entire asylum procedure, without any legal basis for detention or judicial remedies. Police are still authorised to pushback across the border fence irregularly staying migrants (including those who wish to seek asylum in Hungary) from any part of the country, without any legal procedure or opportunity to challenge this measure. In 2019 there were 11,101 people pushed back from the territory of Hungary to the external side of the border fence and 961 were blocked entry at the border fence.

During his visit to Hungary in July 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants urged the government to immediately terminate this 'state of emergency'; he noted that he could not see a single migrant approaching Hungary from the Serbian side of the border, and deemed the extension unnecessary.

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AIDA 20-03-19:

Storbritannien/ AIDA 2019 update: United Kingdom

The updated country report on the United Kingdom documents developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

As the United Kingdom (UK) left the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020, there is now a transition period until the end of 2020 while the UK and EU negotiate future arrangements. The post 2020 arrangements regarding people seeking asylum, particularly in relation to the Dublin III Regulation, are not yet clear. At the beginning of 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the UK's notification of intention to leave the EU does not entail an obligation on other Member States to make use of the sovereignty clause or to take into consideration the best interests of the child and to examine asylum applications themselves. There has been much discussion about the future of the family unity clauses in the Dublin Regulation once the UK leaves the EU.

In 2019 there were 44,494 applicants for international protection in the United Kingdom. No major legislative changes regarding international protection took place in 2019. A report entitled "Lessons not Learned: the failures of asylum decision-making in the UK" was published in 2019 documenting flawed credibility assessments. It finds that the current system places an unrealistic and unlawful evidential burden on asylum applicants. It compiles findings from over 50 publications issued over the last fifteen years on the quality of decision-making processes in the UK Home Office. Built on an analysis of over 1,800 asylum cases and 140 interviews, the report charts the consistent failure of the Home Office to implement recommendations to improve procedures.

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ECRE 20-03-06:

Serbien/ Report on the Right to Asylum in 2019

ECRE member Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) has released the report 'Right to Asylum in the Republic of Serbia 2019' providing a thorough analysis of developments related to asylum procedures, reception conditions and integration in Serbia. While recognising overall improvements BCHR concludes that the Serbian asylum system is not yet fully functional and identifies significant remaining challenges.

According to the report, despite a solid legal framework in place, the lack of effective coordination and systematic solutions from state authorities means that: "legal gaps and inconsistent enforcement of the existing legislation impede the exercise of both the right to asylum and many other refugee rights...".As a result, refugees and asylum seekers depend to a large extent on NGO assistance.

The practises of competent authorities, the combination of strict deadlines and slow processing, inadequate information and translation, and inability of applicants to launch applications on their own initiative in some cases prevent people wishing to seek protection in Serbia from accessing the asylum procedures.

While there are examples of good practise and thorough examination form the Asylum Office (first instance) the BCHR finds "inconsistent Asylum Office practice in terms of the findings of facts, considering that the first-instance authority does not always assess carefully and fully the evidence in all cases." Regarding the Asylum Commission (second instance) BCHR points to a general lack of transparency on the grounds of decisions and finds that it rarely enters the merits of the cases but return approved appeals to and rely almost entirely on the Asylum Office in first instance.

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Human Rights Watch 20-03-20:

Grekland/ Greece: Grant asylum access to new arrivals

Authorities prevent access to services, plan transfers to mainland detention

Greek authorities have denied at least 625 people who arrived on the island of Lesbos between March 1 and 18, 2020 the right to seek asylum, Human Rights Watch said today.

The authorities are detaining 189 new arrivals on the island of Lesbos in unacceptable conditions. The other 436 were transported to a closed center in Malakassa, north of Athens, in conditions that are as yet unknown. On March 1, the Greek government suspended access to asylum for 30 days for people irregularly entering the country.

"For up to two weeks, the authorities have been holding women, men, and children - many of them fleeing war and persecution - in the open in cold temperatures, denying their right to seek asylum and preventing them from getting the humanitarian and legal assistance they need and are entitled to," said Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Greece may be facing challenges on many fronts, from the coronavirus to a surge in arrivals, but it does not mean it can suspend fundamental rights or humane treatment."

The authorities have been holding the migrants and asylum seekers in three locations in northern Lesbos and at Mytilene harbor, and have prevented journalists from speaking with them. The March 1 decision calls for immediately deporting new arrivals "where possible, to their countries of origin" or to transit countries, such as Turkey, without registering them.

On March 17 the government, ostensibly as part of its response to the COVID-19 virus, announced that they are planning to transfer those detained and others who arrived on the islands after March 1 to closed facilities on Greece's mainland. On March 14, a Greek naval vessel transferred 436 migrants to a closed camp in Malakassa, north of Athens, pending their return to Turkey, local media reported.

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Arkiveringsdatum 200306:

AIDA 20-02-21:

Bulgarien/ AIDA 2019 update: Bulgaria

The updated Country Report on Bulgaria documents developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2019.

Asylum procedure

+ Draft amendments: In response to the European Commissions' (EC) letter of formal notice on 8 November 2018 concerning the incorrect implementation of European Union (EU) asylum legislation in Bulgaria, the government tabled for public consultations a draft proposal to amend the Law on Asylum and Refugees (LAR). However, the core of the proposal does not address the issues raised by the EC, namely the accommodation and legal representation of unaccompanied minors; the correct identification of and support to vulnerable asylum seekers; the provision of adequate legal assistance; and safeguards for detention. Moreover, while the draft proposal introduces additional provisions on the access to information for unaccompanied children, it deletes the present safeguards that outline the obligations relating to their legal representatives, thereby raising additional concerns in this regard.

+ Access to the territory: Push backs at the main entry point of the country, which borders Turkey, persisted in 2019. Moreover, the Turkish authorities reported that 90,000 individuals were held in the first nine months of the year in the Edirne Province, which borders both Bulgaria and Greece. In 2019, the national border monitoring registered 337 alleged pushback incidents which affected 5,640 individuals. Those who are able to access the territory are also able to transit and exit the country without being detected by the authorities, which is a strategy operated by the latter so as to avoid any responsibility under the Dublin Regulation or under readmission arrangements. As a result, the official statistics on new arrivals are at the lowest since the first influx in 2013.

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Arkiveringsdatum 200208:

EASO 20-01-28:

Grekland/ EASO operations in Greece to expand significantly

The Agency's operations in Greece are expected to double in size to over 1000 personnel in 2020; Hosting agreement signed to improve efficiency of support through legal and administrative clarity.

On 28 January 2020, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and the Greek government signed a Seat Agreement for the Hosting of the EASO Operational Office in Greece. The agreement was signed in Athens by the Executive Director of EASO, Nina Gregori, and the Greek Alternate Minister for Migration and Asylum, Giorgos Koumoutsakos.

Commenting on the signing of the agreement, Ms Gregori stated: "EASO has been continuously increasing its operational support and cooperation with the Greek authorities since 2011. We have already started further expanding our support in the country in these weeks, and today's agreement gives us the needed administrative and legal framework to do so effectively. I want to thank Alternate Minister Koumoutsakos for the renewed effort he put into ensuring that the agreement was finalised as a priority. This continued constructive approach reflects the long-standing and ongoing excellent working relationship EASO has in partnering with our Greek colleagues."

The hosting agreement gives legal and administrative clarity to the status of EASO in the country, including that of its staff and assets, thus allowing the Agency to be better able to support the Hellenic asylum and reception authorities.

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EASO 20-01-07: EASO operations to double in size this year (Extern länk)

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Arkiveringsdatum 200125:

Sciendo 19-10-11:

Finland/ "Because Migri Says So" - Legitimation in negative asylum decisions in Finland

Erna Bodström, University of Helsinki, Finland

Abstract

This article argues that authorisation and moral evaluation are the dominant legitimation strategies used in asylum decisions by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri). After the migration events of 2015, the percentage of accepted asylum claims dropped dramatically in Finland, causing concern about the legal rights of asylum seekers. Drawing on theoretical literature concerning asylum decisions, borders and language, this article is based on a systematic analysis of 77 asylum decisions. It aims to answer the following questions: What strategies of legitimation does Migri use to support their negative asylum decisions? How are these strategies used? The study reports that the reasons behind negative asylum decisions are often not openly provided. Instead, the decisions largely rely on authorisation and implicit moral evaluation; the decision is so 'because Migri says so'. This lack of transparency has adverse consequences for the due process of asylum seekers, and these consequences can be life-changing.

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Arkiveringsdatum 191017:

AIDA 19-10- 16:

Europa/ Asylum authorities: an overview of internal structures and available resources

A comparative report published by AIDA, managed by ECRE, provides an overview of the structure, composition and functioning of asylum authorities at first instance. It aims to offer a better understanding of their operation and demonstrates that their ability to conduct a rigorous and fair examination of applications for international protection is inherent to their internal organisation and resources.

Despite the overall decrease of the number of applications for international protection in the European Union (EU), figures on the first half of 2019 indicate that asylum authorities continue to face important difficulties in processing asylum claims. The number of pending cases remains at a very high level, exceeding the number of first instance decisions in several countries, and the average processing time of these remains a matter of concern, with asylum applicants being scheduled an interview up to several months - or even years - after lodging their application in certain countries.

Taking these deficiencies into consideration, the report analyses the institutional architecture of determining authorities and the administrative arrangements that have been set up to carry out the asylum procedure efficiently. It further looks at the implementation of the legal guarantees foreseen by the EU asylum acquis, as Member Stares are required to provide asylum authorities with appropriate means, including competent personnel. The report thus sheds light on the financing, staffing and training of asylum authorities as well as on the tools used to examine and decide on applications for international protection. A final part analyses the quality assurance and control mechanisms that have been established in certain countries with a view to continuously improve the quality of decisions.

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Arkiveringsdatum 191002:

ECRE 19-09-27:

Storbritannien/ Report catalogues fifteen years of home office failures

A new report entitled "Lessons not Learned: the failures of asylum decision-making in the UK" compiles findings from over 50 publications issued over the last fifteen years on the quality of decision-making processes in the UK Home Office. Responding to the upcoming publication "Windrush Lessons Learned review" by the Home Office, the Refugee Council, Freedom from Torture and six other organisations warn that the Home Office is instead set to repeat the mistakes made in Windrush.

Built on an analysis of over 1800 asylum cases and 140 interviews, the report charts the consistent failure of the Home Office to implement recommendations to improve procedures. A negligence with devastating impact on individual asylum seekers. It documents flawed credibility assessments and finds that the current system places an unrealistic and unlawful evidential burden on applicants. It also describes a starting point of disbelief for applicants and a broader 'refusal culture' in the approach of the Home Office.

Maurice Wren, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, stated "That those who have looked to Britain for protection from the violence, persecution, rape or torture they have endured, should be treated so unfairly and insensitively at the hands of the UK Home Office, is simply unacceptable." The report describes the current approach of the Home Office as a "legal and a moral failure with a high human and economic cost for applicants" and calls for radical reform.

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Arkiveringsdatum 190620:

Refugee Council UK 19-05-24:

Storbritannien/ Court of Appeal rules age assessment policy as unlawful

The Court of Appeal yesterday (23rd May) ruled that the Home Office's policy on deciding the age of young people seeking asylum is unlawful and must be rewritten, as it fails to ensure that children are not mistakenly treated as adults. In ordering the guidance to be revised, the judge stated that the term 'significantly over 18' was not sufficiently precise as to avoid huge differences in how it was applied, giving rise to the risk that children would be wrongly deemed adults and treated as such in the asylum system.

The judgment is a very important step in protecting unaccompanied children seeking asylum from being identified as adults; the Refugee Council works with many children in this situation and has been raising concerns for many years, both directly with the Home Office and through publicising the issue. We published Not a Minor Offence in 2012 and just last month participated in a BBC Newsnight investigation.

Responding to the judgment Refugee Council's Head of Children's Services Helen Johnson OBE said

"We got involved in this case because every day we see children who have been deemed adult under this Home Office policy, leaving them feeling unsafe, frightened and unsupported. We are very pleased that the Court of Appeal agreed with us that the current wording of the policy does not provide sufficient guidance to ensure that children are not wrongly treated as adults. This ruling means that the Home Office must be much more cautious before it makes this decision and we hope that revised guidance will put an end to these errors once and for all."

The challenge to the policy was the residual issue remaining in the case known as BF (Eritrea) who was represented by Scott Moncrief Solicitors and Matrix Law Chambers. The Equality and Human Rights Commission intervened.

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Refugee Council Policy Briefing: Age disputed young people in the asylum system (Extern länk till pdf-fil)

Home Office Guidance updated: Assessing age, Version 3 (Extern länk till pdf-fil)

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Arkiveringsdatum 190610:

ECRE 19-05-19:

Tyskland/ ECRE report on the airport procedure in Germany

In a report published following a visit to Germany in April 2019, ECRE examines gaps and compliance with procedural guarantees in the airport procedure implemented in the airports of Frankfurt/Main and Munich.

The airport procedure in Germany has been described as a "black box" due to its obscurity, lack of quality, and limited amenability to scrutiny. Although the number of claims processed at airports representing less than 1% of the total caseload before the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), the airport procedure is marred by severe deficiencies in practice.

Among other concerns, the report highlights that asylum seekers navigate highly truncated procedures without comprehensible information and adequate interpretation. The BAMF is reported to make superficial and inadequate assessments of the reasons for flight from the country of origin and maintains a restrictive stance aimed at filtering out claims, going beyond the scope of cases that should be deemed "manifestly unfounded" in line with the German Asylum Act.

Furthermore, applicants with special procedural needs such as pregnant women or persons with disabilities are subjected to lengthy interviews with the BAMF without benefitting from "adequate support" guaranteed to them by the recast Asylum Procedures Directive.

Finally, the report emphasizes that procedural deficiencies are exacerbated by the conduct of the entire airport procedure in a regime of de facto deprivation of liberty, without effective access to means of communication or remedies against arbitrary detention. In that respect, ECRE is particularly concerned by the persisting failure of German authorities to comply with Strasbourg jurisprudence on the right to liberty in airport transit zones.

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Danish Refugee Council / ECRE 19-05-17:

Italien, Grekland/ The Implications of a Closer Asylum-Return Nexus

The strong linkage between asylum and return procedures in the hotspot approach puts fundamental rights at risk, according to a policy brief published by the Danish Refugee Council.

Whereas hotspots in Italy and Greece were set up with a view to ensuring greater effectiveness and efficiency in migration management, experience from practice has demonstrated critical gaps in registration, access to procedures and identification of vulnerabilities, as well as violations of the right to liberty through systematic detention.

The brief places particular emphasis on the implications of the channelling of people into different procedures and the automatic detention of certain groups upon arrival, for example through the nationality-based "low profile" scheme on Greek islands. Persons subject to that scheme are automatically placed in pre-removal detention centres and can only seek asylum whilst in detention.

The Danish Refugee Council recommends access to proper and immediate legal assistance for all persons in such procedures, systematic identification of visible and non-visible vulnerabilities, and compliance with the duty to resort to detention only as a measure of last resort.

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Rapporten "Rights at risk: Implications of a closer nexus between asylum and return procedures" (Extern länk till pdf-fil)

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Danish Refugee Council / ECRE 19-05-17:

Grekland/ The Implications of a Closer Asylum-Return Nexus

The strong linkage between asylum and return procedures in the hotspot approach puts fundamental rights at risk, according to a policy brief published by the Danish Refugee Council.

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Rapporten "Rights at risk: Implications of a closer nexus between asylum and return procedures" (Extern länk till pdf-fil)

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Källor: Informationen på denna sida är hämtad från följande källor (externa länkar): EU (kommissionen, ministerrådet, parlamentet och domstolen), Europarådet (mr-kommissionären, domstolen, kommittén mot tortyr), FN:s flyktingkommissariat UNHCR, FN:s kommitté mot tortyr m.fl. FN-organ, Sveriges Radio, SvT, andra svenska media via Nyhetsfilter och pressmeddelanden via Newsdesk, utländska media till exempel via Are You Syrious och Rights in Exile, internationella organisationer som Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, ECRE, Statewatch och Picum, organisationer i Sverige som Rädda Barnen, Asylrättscentrum, Svenska Amnesty, FARR och #vistårinteut samt myndigheter och politiska organ som Migrationsverket, Sveriges domstolar, JO, Justitiedepartementet m.fl. departement och Sveriges Riksdag.

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