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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 ascending Country Year Type of development Thematic area Development Source
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2019 Legislative Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection For the purposes of family reunification of beneficiaries of international protection, it is clearly stated now that family ties must precede the foreigner's entry into the country. BG LEG 01 2019
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Legislative The Dublin procedure The Dublin procedure An amendment was pending approval by the Council of Ministers to modify the “Regulation on responsibilities and coordination of public authorities implementing action on the application of the Dublin III and Eurodac Regulations”. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Legislative Processing asylum applications at second or higher instance Processing asylum applications at second or higher instance Amendments to the Law on Foreigners provide for a temporary automatic suspensive effect of an appeal against an expulsion order based on national-security grounds, containing “substantiated allegations” of important risk of death or ill treatment in the destination country. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Legislative Detention Detention during the asylum procedure Amendments to the Law on Foreigners introduced provisions for a swift judicial review of detention. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Legislative Statelessness in the context of asylum Statelessness in the context of asylum Amendments to the Law on Foreigners introduced new grounds for refusing to grant stateless status. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Policy Interpretation services Interpretation services Remote interpretation was used during registration and eligibility interviews in reception centres located outside of the capital, where interpreters are harder to find and employ. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Policy Content of protection Content of protection The National Strategy on Migration was adopted for the period 2021-2025. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Policy Content of protection Content of protection The Bulgarian Ministry of Labour and Social Policy extended its refugee employment and training programme for 2021-2022. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure The State Agency for Refugees updated its standard operating procedures for preventing and responding to sexual- or gender-based violence within the asylum procedure and the new procedures were implemented in cooperation with UNHCR and the State Agency for Child Protection EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure The State Agency for Refugees established a pilot programme of self-care and well-being classes for women in the reception and registration centre Vrazhdebna in Sofia. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure The Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees monitored throughout 2021 the implementation of amendments from 2020 related to the representation of unaccompanied minors in the asylum procedure. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2021 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure Safe zones for unaccompanied children needed to be restructured. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2022 Legislative Access to procedure icon Access to procedure The government adopted amendments to the ordinance regulating coordination between the asylum and police (border and immigration) administrations when implementing the Dublin III Regulation. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2022 Legislative The Dublin procedure The Dublin procedure The government adopted amendments to the ordinance regulating the coordination between the asylum and police (border and immigration) administrations when implementing the Dublin III Regulation. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2022 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The State Agency for Refugees reviewed internal guidelines and rules and prepared an analysis of national jurisprudence for internal use. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2022 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The State Agency for Refugees `adapted the EUAA quality assessment tool to review first instance decisions and personal interviews. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2022 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance Staff training objectives for 2022 were postponed due to the influx of displaced persons from Ukraine. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2022 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure A coordination mechanism was approved to facilitate communication among the authorities and organisations working with unaccompanied and separated children. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
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 Content of protection Content of protection The Immigration Office provided detailed guidance on the exceptional circumstances to extend the validity of family reunification decisions and the validity of supporting documents. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Belgium Flag Belgium 2020 Policy Return of former applicants Return of former applicants The final report of the commission for the evaluation of policies on foreigners' voluntary and forced return (also known as the Bossuyt Commission) was published. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Belgium Flag Belgium 2020 Policy Special procedures to process asylum applications Special procedures to process asylum applications The Council of Ministers adopted the draft royal decree establishing a list of safe countries of origin. The draft did not include any changes to the list of safe countries from the previous year. EASO Asylum Report 2021
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 Access to procedure icon Access to procedure Applicants had to book an appointment online for their registration between April and October 2020. The first instance tribunal of Brussels ruled that this practice was against the law, hence from 30 October 2020 registration in person started again at the arrival centre, without prior appointment. 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