Asylum regimes

This paper gives an overview of the current integration standards established within the Common European Asylum System and highlights the possible effects of the changing EU and national legal environment on the integration of beneficiaries of international protection. These integration standards are the starting point of the development of the integration indicators within the project “National Integration Evaluation Mechanism” (NIEM), which aims to support key integration and social actors in 14 EU Member States and Turkey to evaluate and improve the integration outcomes of beneficiaries of international protection. The EU’s greatest impact on the integration of beneficiaries of international protection has been through the stable legal framework of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). The recast Asylum Procedures, Reception Conditions, Qualification and Family Reunification Directives all build on the standards set by the 1951 Geneva Convention and aim for its full and effective implementation. They set a series of standards that shape the integration process, starting from the reception phase until the full legal, socio-economic and socio-cultural integration allowing refugees to realise their full potential to contribute to society. These binding legislative acts are complemented by the Common Basic Principles for Immigrant Integration Policy in the EU1 and its re-affirmation, 10 Years On2 , which guide Member States on how to respond to the needs and opportunities that beneficiaries of international protection bring to their new homes. However, in the past year, the emergence and strengthening of exclusionary, anti-migrant narratives has threatened to undermine national – and now the EU’s – stable legal framework and level of ambition to promote refugee integration. The negative political discourse induced a surprisingly coordinated race-to-the-bottom reply at national level, whose approach is reflected in the most recent European Commission Communication “Towards a Reform of the European Common Asylum System and Enhancing Legal Avenues to Europe”. This document shows a fundamental change in the approach towards beneficiaries of international protection. These proposals reframe the logic of asylum to a more temporary legal status in its nature and have more often recourse to the cessation clause4 , without assessing the long-term consequences: how will it affect the integration of beneficiaries of international protection?

The so-called migration and refugee crisis is one of the most contentious topics on the EU agenda in the current context. The recent events related to the Syrian civil war, political turmoil in Libya and the subsequent influx of refugees and other migrants towards Europe as well as perceptions caused by internal migration that led to ‘Brexit’ have had a polarsing effect on Europe. Therefore, territorial evidence on the flows of asylum seekers and refugees, their distribution between and within EU countries, regions and cities, impact on socio-economic development as well as information on crisis management and integration is in high demand. The ESPON applied research activity “Impacts of refugee flows to territorial development in Europe” addresses these issues and aims to provide relevant territorial evidence and policy recommendations. The research aims to answer the following questions: How does the distribution of asylum seekers and refugees look like at regional and urban level and how has this been changing over time as a result of European and national policy decisions in recent decades? What skills and qualifications do the refugees possess and how does the influx of refugees impact the recipient countries´ regional and local labour markets and demographic imbalances (especially concerning regions which are facing the challenges of losing population and ageing)? Do the skills and qualifications meet the needs of local labour markets and how do they compete with local population and regular migrants? How are different European regions and cities located in arrival, transit and destination countries responding to the refugee crisis in terms of providing humanitarian aid, services (accommodation, material support, healthcare provision, education, language courses, labour market programmes), community building, internal distribution of refugees and medium and long term integration? How does the diversity within Europe in terms of integration policies at regional and local levels look like? What are the main challenges and what are the good policy responses and the best practices for successful integration of refugees into the local communities, societies and labour markets at regional and local levels? What kind of support do they need? How successful have the integration measures been in the past? How to improve the use of existing funding opportunities? Is there a need to improve the legislation? What kind of impacts would the implementation of the proposal of European relocation scheme generate to European countries regions and cities? How are countries redistributing refugees internally? What are the main concerns for the host countries and communities? Consortium: VVA Europe, IT (lead contractor), Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale, IT, InTER - Insitute for Territorial Economic Development, SRB Central European University, HU International Centre for Migration Policy and Development (ICMPD), AT Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, BE Bernd Parusel, SE Bastian A. Vollmer, DE Richard Williams, UK Gianni Antonio Carbonaro, UK

The EU has had its greatest effects on the integration of beneficiaries of international protection (BIPs) through the stable legal framework of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). The 2013 Reception Conditions and 2011 Qualification Directives build on the standards set by the 1951 Geneva Convention and aim for its full and effective implementation. As presented in the MPG paper “Lost in transition? The European standards behind refugee integration”, they guarantee a series of standards that shape the integration process, starting from the reception phase until full legal, socio-economic and socio-cultural integration allows refugees to realise their full potential to contribute to society. On 13 July 2016, a set of proposals was presented to reform these standards, including to replace the Qualification Directive with a Regulation and to amend the Reception Conditions Directive.1 The social consequences of these proposals are serious. Since BIPs today are fleeing many protracted conflicts that take on average 25 years to resolve2 , our societies will have to live with the consequences of these proposals for years—if not generations—to come. These proposals largely represent a missed opportunity and a potentially major risk for integration. The minor improvements on reception and qualification standards would only marginally improve the situation on the ground in most Member States. Moreover, several of the recast’s proposals would actually delay and undermine the integration process for asylum-seekers and BIPs by reducing support for potentially large numbers and removing some possibilities for more favourable conditions for integration. Unlike the 1 st and 2nd generation of the CEAS, which consolidated the most common national practices in EU law, several of these proposals are modelled on hasty and politicised recent restrictions in only a few Member States. These restrictions have not yet been demonstrated to be justified, proportionate or effective for improving integration outcomes. Overall, national governments and civil society agreed that better implementation of the current Reception and Qualification Directives would have greater effects on integration, without jeopardising the effectiveness of other proposed reforms to the CEAS. Particularly as the Commission’s 2016 asylum proposals were drafted more hastily than previous EU asylum and immigration proposals, these two proposals would need to be revised or seriously amended by Council and Parliament in order to make integration the top priority of this recast and avoid a de facto race-to-the-bottom where Member States are further demanding integration but not effectively supporting BIPs, Member States and the local, social and civil society actors that make integration a reality.

Upon request by the LIBE committee, this study examines the workings of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), in order to assess the need and potential for new approaches to ensure access to protection for people seeking it in the EU, including joint processing and distribution of asylum seekers. Rather than advocating the addition of further complexity and coercion to the CEAS, the study proposes a focus on front-line reception and streamlined refugee status determination, in order to mitigate the asylum challenges facing Member States, and guarantee the rights of asylum seekers and refugees according to the EU acquis and international legal standards.

The Asylum Information Database (AIDA) is a database containing information on asylum procedures, reception conditions and detention across 20 countries. This includes 17 European Union (EU) Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom) and 3 non-EU countries (Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey). Country and annual reports, legal briefings and video testimonies of asylum seekers; conduct fact-finding missions to further investigate important protection gaps established through the country reports. The website also allows for a comparison of different types of data related to the asylum procedure, reception conditions and detention among up to three countries. AIDA started as a project (September 2012 – December 2015) of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), in partnership with Forum Réfugiés-Cosi, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Irish Refugee Council, and is now developing into a core research and documentation activity of ECRE. The overall goal of the database is to contribute to the improvement of asylum policies and practices in Europe and the situation of asylum seekers by providing all relevant actors with appropriate tools and information to support their advocacy and litigation efforts, both at the national and European level. These objectives are carried out by AIDA through the following activities: - Country reports - AIDA contains national reports documenting asylum procedures, reception conditions and detention in 20 countries. - Comparative reports - AIDA comparative reports provide a thorough comparative analysis of practice relating to the implementation of asylum standards across the countries covered by the database, in addition to an overview of statistical asylum trends and a discussion of key developments in asylum and migration policies in Europe. Annual reports were published in 2013, 2014 and 2015. This year, AIDA comparative reports are published in the form of thematic updates, focusing on the individual themes covered by the database. Thematic reports on reception and asylum procedures were published in March and September 2016 respectively. - Fact-finding visits - AIDA includes the development of fact-finding visits to further investigate important protection gaps established through the country reports, and a methodological framework for such missions. Focus on the reception conditions; transit zone at borders and on issues relating to asylum detention and the criminalisation of irregular entry; looking at registration and the unavailability of accommodation as barriers to access the asylum procedure. - Legal briefings - Legal briefings aim to bridge AIDA research with evidence-based legal reasoning and advocacy. With the assistance of information gathered from country reports, these short papers identify and analyse key issues in EU asylum law and policy and identify potential protection gaps in the asylum acquis. Legal briefings so far cover: (1) Dublin detention; (2) asylum statistics; (3) safe countries of origin; (4) procedural rights in detention; (5) age assessment of unaccompanied children; (6) residence permits for beneficiaries of international protection; and (7) the length of asylum procedures.

(En) Morocco has long been a country of asylum seekers and refugees from various origin countries. Currently, in Morocco, refugees and asylum seekers are mainly from African and Middle-Eastern countries. Morocco is party to the Refugee’s Convention (1951) and its additional Protocol (1967). Morocco has ratified the Agreement of 23rd November 1957 on maritime refugees as well as its protocol. In 1957, Morocco adopted a law on the implementation modalities of the Geneva Convention related to the refugee status. This law enables the Office of Refugee and Stateless persons (ORS) for the administrative and legal protection of refugees. The law, as it stands, is too general and the ORS has ceased its activities. In spite of it being short lived, Moroccan Law refers to the Geneva Convention (1951) and thus to the rights related to refugee status in terms of the right to work, to education, to health, to freedom of movement etc (article 12-34). UNHCR has had an official representation in Morocco since 1965, through an honorary delegation, and since 2007 it has had diplomatic representation in the country. Because of the absence of any effective national procedure in the field of asylum, UNHCR registers asylum seekers and determines the refugee statute. The UNHCR office deals with all asylum claims and decides on the recognition of refugee status in Morocco. The refugees recognised in Morocco by UNHCR do not benefit from all the rights normally associated with the refugee statute in the Geneva Convention (1951). The Moroccan authorities do not automatically deliver a stay permit which is a necessary condition for migrants wishing to enjoy their rights. Since 2007, UNHCR in Rabat, in partnership with some local NGOs, is active in supporting recognised refugees. UNHCR’s presence in Morocco, in particular, its recent diplomatic representation in the country is considered by some experts and civil society actors as a sign of the ‘externalisation’ of European borders brought about by the EU’s European Immigration and Asylum policy. (Fr) Le Maroc a été depuis toujours un pays de réfugiés et de demandeurs d’asile pour plusieurs peuples venant de plusieurs pays. Actuellement les réfugiés et les demandeurs d’asile au Maroc proviennent principalement des pays africains et du Moyen Orient. Le Maroc a adhéré à la Convention de 1951 et à son Protocole additionnel de1967. Il a également ratifié l'Arrangement du 23 novembre 1957 relatif aux marins réfugiés et le Protocole à cet Arrangement. En 1957, le Maroc a adopté une loi qui a fixé les modalités d'application de la Convention de Genève relative au statut des réfugiés et qui a confié la protection juridique et administrative des réfugiés au Bureau des Réfugiés et Apatrides (BRA). Mais cette loi est assez peu détaillée et le BRA a presque cessé actuellement toute activité. Malgré son caractère bref et assez peu explicite, la législation marocaine se réfère à la Convention de Genève de 1951 qui accorde des droits bien précis aux personnes reconnues comme réfugiés, comme le droit au travail, à l’éducation et à la santé, à la liberté de circulation etc.(articles 12 à 34). Le HCR est représenté officiellement au Maroc depuis 1965, tout d’abord à travers une délégation honoraire puis par une représentation diplomatique en 2007. En l’absence d’une procédure nationale effective en matière d’asile, c’est le HCR qui enregistre les demandeurs d’asile et conduit la détermination du statut de réfugié. Le bureau du HCR traite ainsi toutes les demandes d’asile, détermine et reconnaît le statut de réfugié dans le pays. Les réfugiés au Maroc reconnus par le HCR ne bénéficient pas de tous les droits inclus dans la Convention de Genève de 1951. Les autorités marocaines ne leur délivrent pas automatiquement une carte de séjour qui leur permettra de jouir de leurs droits de réfugiés dans le pays. En partenariat avec certaines ONG locales, le HCR à Rabat est actif dans l’accompagnement des réfugiés reconnus, particulièrement depuis 2007. La présence du HCR au Maroc et son installation diplomatique dans le pays depuis 2007 est considérée par certains spécialistes en migration et par des acteurs de la société civile comme l’une des manifestations de l’externalisation des frontières européennes, du fait de la politique commune d’immigration et d’asile développée par l’Union Européenne.

More than 51 million people worldwide are forcibly displaced today as refugees, asylum seekers, or internally displaced persons. According to the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, to be recognized legally as a refugee, an individual must be fleeing persecution on the basis of religion, race, political opinion, nationality, or membership in a particular social group, and must be outside the country of nationality. However, the contemporary drivers of displacement are complex and multilayered, making protection based on a strict definition of persecution increasingly problematic and challenging to implement. Many forced migrants now fall outside the recognized refugee and asylum apparatus. Much displacement today is driven by a combination of intrastate conflict, poor governance and political instability, environmental change, and resource scarcity. These conditions, while falling outside traditionally defined persecution, leave individuals highly vulnerable to danger and uncertain of the future, compelling them to leave their homes in search of greater security. In addition, the blurring of lines between voluntary and forced migration, as seen in mixed migration flows, together with the expansion of irregular migration, further complicates today's global displacement picture. This report details the increasing mismatch between the legal and normative frameworks that define the existing protection regime and the contemporary patterns of forced displacement. It analyzes contemporary drivers and emerging trends of population displacement, noting that the majority of forcibly displaced people – some 33.3 million – remain within their own countries, and that more than 50 percent of the displaced live in urban areas. The author then outlines and assesses key areas where the international protection system is under the most pressure, and finally examines the key implications of these trends for policymakers and the international community, outlining some possible policy directions for reform.

This research and teaching programme will advance knowledge concerning the situation of female asylum seekers and refugees in the European Union, as well as making a contribution to theoretical frameworks for a gendered analysis of asylum and refugee issue s. Asylum and refugee policies are currently a key area of debate for member states of the EU, as well as for the EU institutions themselves. However; although there are many academic studies devoted to the changing framework for legislation and policy on asylum in Europe; there is as yet very little research on the specific impacts that these developments will have on female asylum seekers. This research programme will attempt to fill this gap in knowledge and analysis through an empirical research program me on the experiences of female asylum seekers in the EU and the gendered impacts of EU policies, together with theoretical analysis on issues related to persecutions specific to women and the right to asylum. Dissemination of knowledge in these areas will take place through a programme of research supervision, teaching and lecturing activities; together with ongoing work in the TERRA network (Travaux, Etudes et Recherches sur les Réfugiés et l'Asile).

IOM-UNHCR-UNICEF Interagency Factsheet on Refugee and Migrant Children (including unaccompanied and separated children) compiles available data on children on the move in Europe. It provides overview of trends (quarterly and annual) in regards to overall arrivals to Europe, number of asylum claims, relocations, nationality breakdown of children, information about accompanied and unaccompanied and separated children, protection concerns, reception conditions. The factsheet is accessible on pdf reports under the "Data Products" section on the page "Latest on the refugee and migrant crisis" of UNICEF

The current economic crisis occurs at a turning point of the EU asylum policy. After a frenetic phase leading up to the adoption of numerous EU directives and regulations, the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) has now entered a second phase of consolidation of the asylum acquis. This new impulse paves the way for a re-assessment of the whole CEAS with a view to ensuring a genuine common asylum policy. Against such a background, it is timely to consider whether the EU has developed the appropriate means to achieving harmonization. Indeed, all stakeholders are aware that the CEAS is losing edge, revealing its limits, not only in terms of refugee protection, but also as regards its capacity for properly fulfilling its main objective: the establishment of a truly common asylum system. However, the recurrent temptation to tighten migration controls in times of recession inevitably begs the question of its impact on the current consolidating phase of the EU asylum policy. In the midst of this reflective period, the present Report aims at reassessing the CEAS through a critical overview of its four main strategic pillars: preventing access to EU territory;  combating ‘asylum-shopping’;  criminalizing failed asylum-seekers and enforcing their return;  promoting the integration of refugees duly recognized as such. This four-pronged strategy has proved instrumental in alleviating asylum pressure in the last decade and will probably be even more in the wake of the current recession. The most pressing challenge is that of preventing the economic crisis from transforming into a protection crisis at the expense of refugee rights.