3.6.3.1. House rules and measures for disruptive applicants

Reception authorities have noted an increase in applicants with disruptive behaviour over the past few years, thus legislative changes and policy efforts were made in 2023 to minimise the impact of such behaviour on the functioning of reception facilities.

In Czechia, the law was amended to allow a worker designated by the reception facility operator to prevent an applicant from entering or remove them from the facility if the applicant is under the severe influence of alcohol or other addictive substances, or if the person is a threat to him/herself or to others, to the property, public order or had already caused harm.591 In this case, the applicant would not be merely removed from the centre, but further appropriate steps are taken, such as bringing the applicant to a sobering centre in case of alcohol or substance intoxication. For cases when the intoxication is manageable and it is not necessary to prevent the applicant from staying on the premises of the reception facility, another procedure applies and, for example, the applicant is placed in a separate room.

A new regulation was adopted in Spain on sanctions for breaching the house rules in reception facilities. The new legislation was better aligned with the provisions of the recast RCD and ensured an improved legal certainty and proportionality of the sanctions. The behaviours leading to sanctions are defined in more detail and are categorised as minor, severe and very severe. Sanctions are adjusted to the severity of the breaches.592  

The Dutch government continued to offer funding to municipalities to implement projects to prevent and manage issues caused by applicants with disruptive behaviour.593 The Minister for Migration addressed the findings of the Inspectorate of Justice and Security on the enforcement and supervision location (HTL) and replied to criticism on the alleged lack of a legal basis for the use of force by special investigating officers when an unsafe situation posed a threat to the safety of employees and residents. Other recommendations from the inspectorate were swiftly followed up and COA updated its policy plan on preventing and managing aggression in reception facilities.594  

The house rules in the initial reception facility were challenged, and the German Federal Administrative Court concluded that the mere entry into a room in an initial reception centre by the police for the Dublin transfer of an applicant cannot be interpreted as a ‘search’ under the Basic Law and did not require a prior judicial search order.

UNCAT welcomed the investigations which were undertaken on the excessive use of force and abusive treatment in Swiss federal asylum centres, but it remained concerned about continued reports on individual cases of ill treatment and instances of sexual violence.595 UNHCR recommended changes to the draft law amending the Asylum Act to provide for a clear disciplinary system in case of violations of house rules in federal reception centres.596 The organisation also collected information in federal reception centres to analyse the impact of the asylum system reform which was introduced in 2019, specifically on reception, and – among other recommendations – underlined the importance of training reception staff on conflict prevention and the de-escalation of violence.597 The SEM recruited violence prevention and personal safety officers for each asylum region at the end of 2023, who were tasked with overseeing violence prevention mechanisms and training security staff.598