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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
Sweden Flag Sweden 2019 Policy Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Since 1 January 2019, Sweden does not recognise the validity of child marriages from abroad, so the agency updated its standards for handling cases related to married child applicants and developed relevant information material in collaboration with the National Board of Health and Welfare. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Policy Interpretation services Interpretation services The Swedish Migration Agency published a legal position on the competency check of interpreters and translators. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2022 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection A new government bill was presented on the distribution of housing across the country to host displaced persons from Ukraine. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Swedish Migration Agency published its legal position on the derivative status in asylum cases. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure The Swedish Migration Agency published a new legal position on interviewing children. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2021 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure The Swedish Migration Agency issued a new legal position on statements by children in which it clarified the circumstances when and the ways in which children should be heard during the asylum procedure. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Sweden Flag Sweden 2022 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Swedish Migration Agency published a new legal position on the examination of protection needs of Somali nationals. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Sweden Flag Sweden 2019 Legislative Statelessness in the context of asylum Statelessness in the context of asylum Persons born in Sweden and having been stateless since birth may receive under certain conditions a permanent residence permit. SE LEG 01 2019
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Swedish Migration Agency updated its legal position on the assessment of applications from Turkish citizens. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Policy Return of former applicants Return of former applicants A new legal position was issued to provide guidance on the assessment of the right to private and family life in the application of the temporary law, and specifically when assessing whether a decision on a foreigner's return infringes the right prescribed in Article 8. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Policy Content of protection Content of protection The Swedish Public Employment Service started to roll out the Intensive Year programme for newly-arrived beneficiaries of international protection, which aims to get participants in employment within a year after the completion of the comprehensive, full-time integration programme. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2021 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure The Swedish Migration Agency updated its legal position on assessing the asylum applications of persons claiming to belong to a particularly vulnerable group in their country of origin. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Sweden Flag Sweden 2022 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance A new legal position (RS/089/2021) was published on the examination of protection needs for citizens from Afghanistan, in particular on the situation of women and girls. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Sweden Flag Sweden 2019 Policy Return of former applicants Return of former applicants The Swedish Migration Agency published a legal comment on Sudan leading to the temporary suspension of returns to the country. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Sweden Flag Sweden 2021 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection All new residence permits became temporary, with the exception of resettled refugees. Permanent residence can be obtained after a minimum of 3 years in the country, and as a general rule, adults applying have to be able to support themselves and their dependant relatives and have decent housing. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Swedish Migration Agency published a legal position on Palestinian passports and their assessment within the asylum procedure. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2020 Policy Return of former applicants Return of former applicants The Swedish Migration Agency published a new legal position on practical obstacles to the implementation and enforcement of returns. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Sweden Flag Sweden 2021 Policy Content of protection Content of protection To facilitate migrant women’s employment, the Swedish government proposed to grant 90 days of parental leave to parents from low-income families. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
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
Sweden Flag Sweden 2022 Policy Applicants with special needs Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure The description of the age assessment method followed by the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine was updated to make the process more detailed and transparent, minimise risks and interpret the margin of errors and factors affecting the statistical model. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Sweden Flag Sweden 2019 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Swedish Migration Agency updated its legal position on Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Somalia, published a legal comment on Nicaragua and on the increased violence in Afghanistan during summer 2019, and temporarily stopped decisions in cases involving applicants from the Hasskah province of Syria based on its new situational analysis. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Sweden Flag Sweden 2019 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The “Asylum360” pilot project of 2018 was extended to more regions, combining the accommodation of asylum seekers and the examination of their applications into one continuous process to handle as many cases as possible without interruptions. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Sweden Flag Sweden 2021 Legislative Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection The Swedish government established an inquiry on an orderly initial reception of asylum seekers. The inquiry is tasked to propose measures to ensure that asylum seekers choose to live in the Swedish Migration Agency's accommodation throughout the asylum period, propose how a statutory obligation to participate in social introduction can be formulated, consider the scope of persons covered under the Law on Reception of Asylum Seekers and Others, and review the scope of benefits covered by this act. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
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
Sweden Flag Sweden 2021 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Swedish Migration Agency updated its legal positions on Afghanistan and on person with Tigrayan ethnicity from Ethiopia. EUAA Asylum Report 2022