|
Lithuania |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Detention during the asylum procedure |
Non-cooperation with authorities during the asylum application became a ground for detention. |
LT LEG 01 2019 |
|
Bulgaria |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Access to information |
An amendment to the Law on Asylum and Refugees clarified the role of organisations which provide legal and social assistance. |
BG LEG 01 2019 |
|
Finland |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Access to procedure |
Authorities may take and retain the travel documents of an applicant throughout the asylum procedure. |
FI LEG 01 2019 |
|
France |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Statelessness in the context of asylum |
A provision for a multi-year residence permit stating “beneficiary of stateless person status” or “family member of a beneficiary of stateless person status” was established and the rules were clarified for processing applications for this type of permit. |
FR LEG 14 2019 |
|
Latvia |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
The booklet A Guide for Asylum Seekers in Latvia was translated into two additional languages, Azerbaijani and Georgian. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Sweden |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups |
The Swedish Migration Agency published a new handbook on human trafficking, with a part focusing on improving the identification of victims and perpetrators within the asylum procedure. The template for interviewing unaccompanied minors was updated to better detect signs of human trafficking. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
United Kingdom |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Content of protection |
The third edition of the Indicators of Integration framework was published. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Belgium |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups |
The CGRS, in cooperation with the Guardianship Service, organised several training sessions for guardians on the asylum procedure for unaccompanied minors. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Finland |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups |
Internal instructions guidelines for case workers were updated to report female genital mutilation or the risk thereof to the police and child protection services. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Germany |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Interpretation services |
A special team of interpreters was recruited for quality assurance to develop and implement further improvements and to train BAMF employees on communicating with applicants through an interpreter. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Belgium |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
The Council of Ministers approved several measures on 14 November 2019 to speed up the procedures for international protection by hiring more staff in asylum authorities, increasing reception capacity to accelerate outflow and cooperating closer with all federal government departments. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
France |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
A collaborative tool (“TNV Asile”) was developed for prefectural asylum services. It enables practical information sheets to be disseminated, information to be shared, asylum policies to be updated and fosters better interaction between the heads of the one-stop services and Regional Dublin Procedure Hubs and the Directorate for Asylum. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Malta |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
The Office of the Refugee Commissioner and the IT Unit of the Ministry for Home Affairs, National Security and Law Enforcement improved the national asylum database that records relevant data pertaining to applications for international protection, as well as for registering asylum seekers. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Netherlands |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Detention during the asylum procedure |
The law proposal to amend the Aliens Act (Vw) established a legal basis for border detention after rejection of an asylum application. |
NL LEG 04 2019 |
|
Austria |
2019 |
Institutional |
|
Return of former applicants |
A new Department for Return and Reintegration (V/10) was established as part of Section V in the Federal Ministry of the Interior. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Sweden |
2019 |
Institutional |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
The Swedish Migration Agency decided to restructure its head office which would be effective in 2020, as well as restructuring and reducing the regions from five to three. The number of full-time equivalent employees was also decreased from 5 842 to 5 096. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Germany |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
Under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, material reception conditions can be restricted to a greater extent when the applicant does not cooperate. Applicants awaiting a transfer under the Dublin procedure are now entitled only to limited material reception conditions. Material reception conditions are limited to core benefits until leaving the country (Überbrückungsleistungen) for applicants who have already been granted international protection in another EU Member State and whose obligation to leave the territory is enforceable. |
DE LEG 03 2019 |
|
Greece |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
Decision on the restriction of movement of applicants of international protection and subsidiary protection recipients. |
EL LEG 02 2019 |
|
Latvia |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Statelessness in the context of asylum |
New legislation provides citizenship automatically to children born to non-citizens in the country, unless the parents have agreed to grant to the child citizenship of another country. |
LV LEG 01 2019 |
|
Belgium |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
The Flemish family allowance system was reformed and transformed into a so-called Growth Package (Groeipakket), whereby every child in Flanders is entitled to the allowance as of 1 January 2019, including minor applicants in the second reception phase. |
BE LEG 02 2019 |
|
Denmark |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Content of protection |
An amendment was made to the criteria for assessing derivative circumstances for cessation, and residence permits of refugees and their family members may be revoked in a wider range of circumstances. |
DK LEG 01 2019 |
|
France |
2019 |
Legislative |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
An order defined the operating rules for collective reception centres. |
FR LEG 11 2019 |
|
Ireland |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Content of protection |
The government published the mid-term review of the Migrant Integration Strategy 2017-2020. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Slovakia |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
The Migration Office of the Ministry of the Interior continued to implement the AMIF-funded project Capacity Building in the Field of Asylum, which trains its staff members on reception of asylum seekers, including timely and thorough identification of vulnerable groups. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
United Kingdom |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
Guidance was updated on assessing applicants who are destitute and eligible for support. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |