Skip to main content

National Asylum Developments Database

 

The National Asylum Developments Database presents legislative, institutional and policy developments related to asylum since 2018.

Searches can be narrowed down by:

  • Country
  • Year
  • Type of development: legislative, institutional or policy 
  • Thematic area: access to procedure, access to information, legal assistance and representation, interpretation services, special procedures, procedures at first instance, reception of applicants for international protection, detention, procedures at second instance, country of origin information, statelessness in the asylum context, content of protection, return of former applicants, resettlement and humanitarian admission programmes.

Details on each development and further analysis can be consulted in the Asylum Report series.
 

Types of policies and practices reported in the National Asylum Developments Database

The National Asylum Developments Database can be searched by institutional, legislative and policy changes. There are three types of policy developments:

Policies and practices related to the integrity of national asylum systems aim to swiftly identify unfounded asylum applications and ensure that financial, human and administrative resources are not dissipated on such claims. These measures involve efforts to rapidly establish an applicant’s identity, including age, country of origin, travel route and security concerns if any. These facts help to better assess the credibility of the applicant’s statements and determine whether beneficiaries of international protection are still in need of protection. The prevention of unintentional misuse of the asylum procedure and its integrity are also supported by the provision of information to asylum applicants and beneficiaries of international protection on their respective rights and obligations and related procedural arrangements.

Policies and practices that improve the efficiency of national asylum systems include digitalisation and the use of new technologies in the framework of asylum, prioritising or fast-tracking applications, the re-organisation of the procedure itself or implementing changes in the number of staff employed.

Policy and practice aiming to enhance the quality of national asylum systems contribute to increasing fairness, integrity and efficiency. Quality assurance systems, guidance materials and capacity-building measures typically pay off on the initial investment and efforts. The initiatives include staff training, revising existing guidance materials and monitoring the quality of the decisions delivered.

The database presents validated factual information and does not imply any endorsement from the European Commission or EUAA.

Flag Sort descending Country Year Type of development Thematic area Development Source
Austria Flag Austria 2019 Legislative Country of origin information Country of origin information Sri Lanka was removed from the list of countries considered to be safe countries of origin due to the reintroduction of capital punishment. AT LEG 06 2019
Austria Flag Austria 2020 Legislative Return of former applicants Return of former applicants An amendment to the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum Procedures Act, promulgated on 23 December 2020, requires mandatory return counselling sessions to be held at an advanced stage of the procedure. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Austria Flag Austria 2019 Legislative Return of former applicants Return of former applicants The act grants a postponement of the time limit for voluntary departure to rejected applicants who are in an apprenticeship. AT LEG 03 2019
Austria Flag Austria 2022 Policy Access to procedure icon Access to procedure The police in Austria changed the registration system by internal decree for applicants arriving at the border with Hungary. Unaccompanied minors, families and other vulnerable persons continued to be handled in the regular scheme, while other applicants were registered and finger-printed right at the border. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Belgium Flag Belgium 2021 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection Reception capacity was significantly increased throughout 2021, reaching 30,000 places in February 2022. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Belgium Flag Belgium 2022 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection The government announced its intention to create a separate right of residence through family reunification for parents of children who are recognised beneficiaries of international protection. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Belgium Flag Belgium 2022 Policy Resettlement Resettlement and humanitarian admissions The government pledged to resettle 500 refugees and to admit 125 people under humanitarian admission programmes. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Belgium Flag Belgium 2019 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection Persons already benefitting from international protection in another EU Member State no longer receive material reception conditions. Dublin applicants who absconded and re-applied for reception after six months were also no longer entitled to material reception conditions. Fedasil evaluates these rejections on a case-by-case basis, taking into account any specific vulnerabilities of the applicant. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Belgium Flag Belgium 2021 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection A new feature of the online web application, Match-IT, was rolled out to document social aspects of an applicant. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Belgium Flag Belgium 2020 Policy Country of origin information Country of origin information CEDOCA developed a new training programme on COI through an online tutorial. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Belgium Flag Belgium 2020 Policy Resettlement Resettlement and humanitarian admissions A new community sponsorship programme was activated and the first families arrived to Belgium through this programme at the end of 2020. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Belgium Flag Belgium 2022 Legislative Processing asylum applications at second or higher instance Processing asylum applications at second or higher instance CALL launched a digital tool on 1 March 2022, entitled J-BOX, to exchange procedural documents electronically instead of using registered mail. The use of the tool became mandatory in appeals for accelerated and urgent measures. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Belgium Flag Belgium 2022 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection Fedasil presented its new management plan for the period 2021-2026. It defines the organisation’s strategic and operational objectives. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Belgium Flag Belgium 2020 Legislative Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection In order to fill gaps in labour market shortages caused by the pandemic, applicants were exceptionally exempted from the 4-month waiting period until 30 June 2020. In view of the continuing shortage of workers in some sectors due to the closing of the borders, this measure was resumed from December 2020 until 30 June 2021. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Belgium Flag Belgium 2022 Institutional Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The State Secretary for Asylum and Migration announced that it considered plans to merge the Immigration Office, the CGRS and Fedasil. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Belgium Flag Belgium 2019 Policy Access to information Access to information Fedasil launched a multi-lingual information platform for applicants for international protection, www.fedasilinfo.be, accessible only from Belgium and available in 12 languages. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Belgium Flag Belgium 2019 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection Fedasil and the Red Cross established an agreement with the Flemish Integration and Civic Integration Agency to notify the public of the opening of any new reception centre and the agency would appoint a liaison officer to support the local administration in addressing residents. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Belgium Flag Belgium 2021 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The State Secretary for Asylum and Migration announced the recruitment of 700 new staff for the CGRS, the Immigration Office and Fedasil and published a vacancy notice in June 2021. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Belgium Flag Belgium 2020 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection The Minister of Asylum and Migration announced new measures aiming to fight against the abuse of the asylum system. Persons already benefitting from international protection in another EU Member State no longer receive material reception conditions. Dublin applicants who abscond and re-apply for reception following 6 months are also no longer entitled to material reception conditions. Fedasil evaluated these rejections in an individual manner, case-by-case, taking into account any possible vulnerabilities. This policy was withdrawn later in 2020. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Belgium Flag Belgium 2020 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Council of State suspended the project which aimed to pilot the use of videoconferencing in open centres. This is due to the fact that the Royal Decree on the functioning of the CGRS does not mention this among the competencies of the authority. The project can only continue once the Royal Decree is amended. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Belgium Flag Belgium 2022 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection Fedasil issued a new instruction on the forced and voluntary withdrawal of reception conditions for working applicants. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Belgium Flag Belgium 2020 Legislative Special procedures to process asylum applications Special procedures to process asylum applications The new Royal Decree establishing the list of safe countries of origin entered into force. The list itself includes the same countries. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Belgium Flag Belgium 2019 Policy Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups All new protection officers at the CGRS were trained on gender in the asylum procedure and a specialised training course was provided for more experienced protection officers and supervisors on cases involving gender-related grounds. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Belgium Flag Belgium 2019 Policy Access to procedure icon Access to procedure Fedasil made improvements to the arrival path in the temporary arrival centre in Brussels, rendering registration and lodging procedures quicker and more efficient. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Belgium Flag Belgium 2019 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection A law proposal was put forth to reduce the period of exemption for beneficiaries of international protection from the requirement to have sufficient economic resources from one year to three months. BE LEG 01 2019