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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 Country Year Sort descending Type of development Thematic area Development Source
Switzerland Flag Switzerland 2020 Legislative Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection An amendment to Ordinance 1 on asylum settles the implementation rules for video surveillance in federal reception centres. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Ireland Flag Ireland 2020 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection Certain tasks of the Minister for Justice and Equality were transferred to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, including the coordination of the national integration policy, the International Protection Accommodation Services, the International Protection Procurement Services and giving permission to enter and stay in the country for resettlement or temporary protection. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Italy Flag Italy 2020 Legislative Interpretation services Interpretation services The National Commission for Asylum in Italy was considering adding new criteria into public tenders to ensure that interpreters have a suitable level of comprehension of the Italian language. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Lithuania Flag Lithuania 2020 Legislative Legal representation and assistance Legal assistance and representation The amendments guaranteed free legal aid throughout the asylum procedure. EASO Asylum Report 2021
France Flag France 2020 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection A draft law was presented to the National Assembly, which would prohibit the regularisation of foreigners in irregular situations, such as former applicants. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Greece Flag Greece 2020 Legislative Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection A Ministerial Decision was issued on the creation of temporary reception establishments for applicants for international protection. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Hungary Flag Hungary 2020 Legislative Access to procedure icon Access to procedure A new Article 80 was added to the Asylum Decree: This allows the NDGAP to ask for support from the National Security Service to access data available on any objects under seizure. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Ireland Flag Ireland 2020 Legislative Special procedures to process asylum applications Special procedures to process asylum applications The UK was designated as a safe third country. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2020 Legislative Detention Detention during the asylum procedure A draft law aims to amend the Law on Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria, including, for example, shorter time limits for appealing decisions on pre-removal detention. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Czech Flag Czech Republic 2020 Legislative Statelessness in the context of asylum Statelessness in the context of asylum A new legislative proposal was presented to the Parliament, which includes among other aspects of the asylum procedure, the establishment of a statelessness determination procedure. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Finland Flag Finland 2020 Legislative Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure The age limit for follow-up care for unaccompanied children was extended from 21 years to 25 years. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Policy Content of protection Content of protection The Swedish Migration Agency updated its legal position on considering children's age in family reunification procedures, following the CJEU's relevant judgment. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Denmark Flag Denmark 2020 Policy Content of protection Content of protection The Ministry of Immigration and Integration Affairs published the progress report for 2020 on the Integration Action Plan. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Germany Flag Germany 2020 Policy Content of protection Content of protection The BAMF launched a new digital information platform, offering information on integration services. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Lithuania Flag Lithuania 2020 Policy Content of protection Content of protection The Ministry of Social Security and Labour signed a cooperation agreement with the Mykolas Romeris University to provide English or Lithuanian language courses for selected beneficiaries of international protection. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Greece Flag Greece 2020 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection The Ministry of Migration and Asylum announced that all asylum applicants are to be issued a temporary number for health care. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Norway Flag Norway 2020 Policy Access to procedure icon Access to procedure The arrival centre was re-organised in Norway to include multiply stakeholders within the same centre. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Bulgaria Flag Bulgaria 2020 Policy Detention Detention during the asylum procedure Bulgaria increased the capacity of two pre-removal facilities (Busmantsi and Lyubimets) from 700 to 1,060 persons. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Croatia Flag Croatia 2020 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure Standard Operating Procedures were drafted to improve the coordination of family reunification for unaccompanied children in the framework of the The Dublin procedure. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Ireland Flag Ireland 2020 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection The Irish International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) implemented a new policy in respect of COVID-19 prevention measures to require applicants who were away from the centre for more than one night without permission to undergo a period of quarantine before readmission to the centre. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Finland Flag Finland 2020 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Ministry of the Interior launched a project to assess the impact of future migration trends on immigration administration, especially on the functioning of and resources for the Finnish Immigration Service. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Access to procedure icon Access to procedure The Aliens Circular set in law the practice that an applicant is under the duty to provide all information that might potentially influence the asylum application, which includes criminal past, acts that might fall under the Geneva Convention, Article 1F and any measures that other Member States might have imposed on the person. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Norway Flag Norway 2020 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection Persons granted protection in Norway may obtain a long-term residence permit after 5 years, instead of the previous 3 years, following legislative amendments that entered into force in December 2020. The language knowledge requirement for naturalisation was increased from A2 to B1 level. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Legislative Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure Changes to the national legislation introduce a departure ban for children who are at risk of being taken abroad for marriage or female genital mutilation. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Ireland Flag Ireland 2020 Legislative Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection Some reception-related tasks were transferred from the Minister for Justice and Equality to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, including the provision, withdrawal or reduction of material reception conditions, information provision, the designation of accommodation centre and support for vulnerable persons. EASO Asylum Report 2021