EASO in Italy – latest updates 

The implementation of the operational activities in Italy as defined in the annual Operating Plan continued with success in the last months, with a specific focus on support to lodging of applications and data management in relation to allocation to the reception system.  
 

During the summer months an increased number of sea arrivals was marked, in August for instance a total of 10,273 sea arrivals took place, with 322 disembarkation events, thus marking again an increase compared to the previous year. Among those, more than half of the total of arrivals disembarked in Lampedusa (5,848 people). 

To date, summer sea arrivals (June-July-August) represent more than 60% of the total number of arrivals since the beginning of the year. In August, four disembarkations have been authorized by the Italian authorities for NGOs vessel rescuing people in Search and Rescue (SAR) activities in the central Mediterranean with a total 1,315 people on board. Following the quarantine period, applicants for international protection have been transferred to reception facilities and channelled through the Voluntary Relocation procedures.

In this context, EASO Asylum Support Teams (ASTs) in Italy continued supporting the local immigration offices with lodging of asylum registrations in the dedicated reception centre in Bari and in the Lazio region. 

In the past months, EASO support also included logistic and administrative support to the organisation of the Member States’ missions to Italy for Voluntary Relocation interviews. 

Together with the consistent number of landings reported during the summer months the Italian reception system has been put under heavy pressure with the escalation of the crisis in Afghanistan. Until the end of August, the Italian Authorities evacuated approximately 5,000 Afghans through an intense operation that reached its peaks at the end of August. 

EASO resources deployed at the relevant Italian authority provided support to the identification of the post-quarantine reception facilities throughout the whole territory. Thus, contributing to the channelling of the Afghan people into the asylum and reception system after the quarantine period.

EASO in Lithuania – latest updates 

Since July 2021 EASO has been providing support to Lithuania on asylum and reception, after the signature of a new Operating Plan with the national authorities in the country.

After the unprecedented increase of irregular migration flows from Belarus with more than 1,000 irregular entries registered in the country, a sharp increase in the total number of asylum applications lodged is being recorded. This has impacted the national authorities in the country in terms of timely processing the incoming requests on both asylum and reception.

Teams of operational staff were rapidly deployed together with interpreters, all of them part of a medium-term intervention focusing on building the capacity of Lithuanian authorities to cope with the changed migratory context and its possible future evolution. 

The Operating Plan 2021 had an initial duration of five months, until 31 December 2021 but a new Plan was signed in September that extends the Plan until June 2022. It is articulated in two main areas of support, Asylum and Reception aiming at enhancing the capacity of the national authorities and build robust and sustainable systems in the country. On Asylum, the support provided enhances the overall capacity to process registrations and asylum applications at first instance in efficient and effective manner. 

At the same time targeted training and Country of Origin Information support are being provided by EASO to the Lithuanian authorities. 

On Reception, our support from EASO is aimed at enhancing the capacity of the State Border Guard Service to manage first line reception, in particular on: site management, communication, information provision and vulnerability. In this framework, the deployment of site management assistants, information providers and reception assistants, together with the provision of interpretation/cultural mediation services, is envisaged in the Operating Plan. In addition, the development of workflows, procedures and operational tools, coupled with training and exchange visit initiatives, is aimed at strengthening the capacity of Lithuanian authorities to provide and manage accommodation services. 

In addition, the Ministry of Social Security and Labor (MoSSL) has actively requested increased EASO support (design and planning of the expansion according to the EU reception standards), due to their new role to accommodate vulnerable persons and expand their center (Rukla) by 500-1000 places.

EASO in Greece – latest updates 

EASO Operations in Greece continued focusing on three areas of support, asylum, reception, and relocation, following the successful cooperation with the national authorities in the country.  

The total number of EASO deployed teams has reached a new record high during the last months with approximately 600 personnel deployed within EASO team, marking a record in productivity.

The low number of arrivals continued during the last months in the country followed by a sharp decrease in the total number of lodged asylum applications, almost half compared to last year in the same period of reference (Quarter 3).

In general, more departures than arrivals were marked in the country and transfers from the islands to mainland kept high during this period as well. Access to the asylum procedure through a very high number of registrations has been supported by EASO, in particular more than half of the total number of registrations performed in the country were carried out by EASO personnel.

The successful implementation of Project North is gradually moving towards its finalization after elimination of pending backlogs.

As a result, the Project South has kicked in the last few months in mainland Greece across the Attica region aiming at addressing the remained backlogs and ensure successful implementation of the annual operating plan of EASO with the Greek authorities. Through readjusted workflows and human resources reassignment, asylum determination interviews are being conducted in Ritsona, Oinofyta, Malakasa, Katechaki and Piraeus (and expanding to Corinth and Thiva) always in line with the national health and safety protocols issued by the Greek authorities.

One of the most important developments at legislative level in Greece was the new Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) issued in June by the Ministries of Migration and Asylum and Foreign Affairs in Greece defining Turkey as a safe third country for asylum seekers originating from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, bringing forward drastic changes in the workflows of the asylum determination interviews and the drafting of opinions. Under the new frame only asylum determination interviews will be conducted, in fact a highly increased number of only admissibility interviews will be taking place and consequently a sharp decrease of opinions is foreseen in the coming months.

On Reception now, the Multi-Purpose Reception and Identification Centre (MPRIC) in Lesvos and Chios are among the main priorities for the year and the new facility in Samos was inaugurated recently in September with the support of EU funds.

EASO is continuously providing support at first reception level with information provision and referral mechanism across the county in coordination with the Reception and Identification service in Greece. 

Finally, the EASO operational training activities in the country are continuously supporting the national authorities but also different entities and stakeholders involved in the area of asylum

EASO in Malta – latest updates 

EASO Operations in Malta are continuing in line with the defined priorities for the year 2021 with increased scale in terms of deployment of human resources and budgets. 

We are providing continuous support with the digitalization of asylum paper files, analyzing the need for a solid case management system while enhancing the social work capacity and stepping up our support in the age assessment procedure. 

Recently, Malta Operations kicked off the 2022-2024 needs assessment process at the end of August, in cooperation with both main stakeholders, the International Protection Agency (IPA) and Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS). 

On the basis of this exercise, EASO will scale up its support to the Dublin Unit, based in Hal Far and additional resources will be allocated to address the needs. Two positions were agreed upon:

• An administrative assistant to handle the backlog of paperwork and 
• A member state expert who would support with the Dublin requests.