You are on page 1of 7

FRANCE

The French law recognizes the right to asylum or the status of political refugee for persons born in a foreign country who are subject to exile by sovereign or non-sovereign authorities. Asylum may be granted according to the provisions of the Geneva Convention if an asylum seeker may evidence that he/she has been the subject of exile in his/her country based on race, religion, nationality, affiliation to social group or because of his/her political beliefs. The status of a refugee or an asylum seeker shall be granted by the French Office for Protection of Refugees and Emigrants (OFPRA) After OFPRA had issued a document on received application, an asylum seeker is obliged to register with the police station in the territory of which he/she lives and where he/she will be issued a receipt on asylum application, which shall be valid for the period of three months. If an asylum seeker is granted the status of asylum seeker, he/she Hill get a visa for longer stay to be valid for the period of up to six months and which may be renewed as long as OFPRA adopts its final decision. If the decision is positive, an asylum seeker may file an application for residence permit. In France the greatest change occurred through the introduction of a new law in 2003, which considerable shortened the relevant procedure now lasting for three months in average. Also, according to the new law, asylum seekers must file an application in French language within three weeks from the date of arrival to France. The fact that a large number of asylum seekers do not speak French is another problem of asylum seekers. Also, the period of three weeks is not sufficient to find support they need in order to prepare their applications and all necessary documentation properly. In average, the percentage of accepted applications is only 8.5%. If their applications are accepted, asylum seekers obtain the status of refugees and they can start living in France. If their applications are dismissed, asylum seekers may appeal against the decisions but must leave the country if their appeals are dismissed. The level of accepted appeals amounts to 25%. In France asylum seekers are in a very difficult position because they only get 10 daily for living costs and they are not allowed to work. There are rare cases in which this rule may be violated, such as seasonal works, although opportunities to work are extremely rare. They are also denied options to volunteer or attend training. Asylum seekers have an option to be at acceptance centres financed by the state but there is not enough space so that many remain outside centres and are forced to sleep in the streets. The level of accepted applications by asylum seekers living in acceptance centres amounts to 65%. The reason for such a high percentage of success is the fact that at those centres there is assistance of employees of the centres helping them to prepare the necessary documents in the best possible way. Asylum seekers have legal and linguistic aid at the disposal.

LUXEMBOURG
In Luxembourg the Ministry of Justice is in charge of processing of applications submitted by asylum seekers. An asylum seeking application must be submitted to the Office for Asylum Applications immediately after entering the territory of Luxembourg. An asylum seeker has the right to assistance of an interpreter during all interviews with him/her from the first day. An asylum seeker also has the right to select an attorney-at-law at his/her own choice who will represent him/her during the entire process. In addition, an asylum seeker may have free of charge legal aid. During the application procedure, an asylum seeker may not obtain the right to residence. However, he/she is issued apink paper (which is a certificate that the person concerned has entered the application procedure for asylum) containing his/her personal data as well as the date of submission of the application for asylum. This certificate of application should be renewed each month until the end of procedure in which it will be decided on his/her final status. In Luxembourg asylum seekers have no right to apply for a job or to do any paid job. Also, they are not able to be engaged in any economic activity and must wait for the change of their legal status in order to be able to exist on the labour market. Thus, they are very often stigmatized by the nationals, additionally aggravating their inclusion into the society. Social support of 273 monthly for one person is provided for asylum seekers who only have free of charge accommodation, namely 496 for a couple, for food and other needs. Social support (so-called pocket money) for persons having accommodation and meals free of charge amounts to 50 for adults and 25 per child (the data from May 2002).

BELGIUM
Procedure Any foreigner entering Belgium may file an application for asylum, but not all asylum seekers shall be recognized refugees. An asylum seeker has the right to go through the procedure of status regulation. In order to define what persons may get the status of refugees, the Belgian authorities refer to the Law on Access to Territory, Residence, Settlement and Deportation of Foreigners of 15 December 1980, namely to the Geneva Convention on Refugee Status from 1951. While the authorities are processing individual cases of asylum, an asylum seeker receives financial support at the private centres they had been assigned to. Asylum seekers are not obliged to stay at the private centres but the majority of asylum seekers choose this very option. If an asylum seeker decides not to stay in the private centre, such a person shall not receive any financial support. Also, this person shall loose the right to medical care. Asylum seekers are placed either in the collective centres or in individual housing units. The structure for reception of asylum seekers, FEDASIL (the Federal Agency for Reception of Asylum Seekers) and their partners have a network of accommodation with more than 18,000 beds. Asylum seekers most frequently stay at the collective centres first. After 4 months at those centres, families and individuals may ask to be transferred to the places offering individual housing units and meet their requirements more. The duration of asylum seeking procedure has been prescribed by law.

Since the beginning of 2010 asylum seekers have the right to work in Belgium. This right to work may only be exercised by those asylum seekers who had not received any final reply within six months after the submission of application from the CommissionerGeneral for Refugees and Stateless Persons. Once the final decision is adopted, it usually means that the person concerned shall loose the right to accommodation at the collective centre. If the decision is positive, a refugee shall obtain residence permit and he/she shall be obliged to find his/her own accommodation. If the decision is negative, it means that the person concerned must leave the territory of Belgium. During the procedure and after the negative decision is adopted, FEDASIL shall offer the option of voluntary return. In addition to the status of refugee, since 2006 the category of status of subsidiary protection has also been introduced. This status may be granted to asylum seekers who do not meet the criteria to obtain the status of refugee but who are in danger and who may evidence that their living in the country they come from is in danger. Financial support for the return may be allocated from the budget of the Kingdom of Belgium (paid travelling costs to the capital city of the country they come from) although certain funds may also be provided by the International Labour Organization for those asylum seekers who return to their country of origin on voluntary basis.

AUSTRIA
In Austria, an asylum application is to be submitted to the institutions precisely defined by law, mainly to initial acceptance centres, and under certain conditions it may also be submitted to an agent of the public security agency or to the security authorities. The procedure consists of two stages. At the first stage, the Federal Asylum Agency shall adopt the relevant decision. If the persons concerned are in detention, the term for the adoption of the decision on the application is three months, and for other applications the term is prescribed by the general administrative procedure. An appeal procedure may not postpone deportation, except for a certain very small number of cases. Special procedure has been prescribed for asylum seekers at the airports. Caritas Data (the Law does not say anything about this issue) Care for asylum seekers is shared between the federal state and provinces. There are two reception premises for asylum seekers in Austria, houses for their accommodation in provinces, and there is also an option that asylum seekers are accommodated privately. If an asylum seekers decides to be accommodated privately, he/she will receive 290 monthly (110 for food, 180 for accommodation), and a family with two children will receive 740 monthly. Asylum seekers have basic medical care.

GERMANY

An asylum seeker must personally register with the reception premises, or more precisely, with the branch of the Federal Office for Approval of Asylum Status. The state shall provide minimal pecuniary amounts to asylum seekers, access to the labour market is prohibited and they must live in the centres manager by the state for a certain period of time.

NORWAY
48 Hours Procedure Norway finds that Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia are safe countries so that asylum applications submitted by the citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia shall be processed within 48 hours, and such citizens, after they receive decisions on dismissal of their asylum applications, shall be transported outside Norway under the police assistance. This procedure has been introduced as a response to abrupt increase of the number of asylum seekers after the introduction of visa liberalization regime, which also proved to be very efficient and effective in discouraging asylum seekers in the case of Bulgaria and Romania, thanks to which Norway, as different from other EU countries, received a relatively small number of asylum applications. Transit Reception Centre After registration with the police, asylum seekers shall be offered accommodation at the Transit Reception Centre. They will remain there until the interviews to be held by the Directorate of Immigration (DI). Interview It is stated on the web page of the DI that an asylum seeker shall be interviewed within a short period. The period concerned has not been mentioned in the Law. An asylum seeker has the right to an appeal and this appeal is to be submitted to the DI, and if he/she does not change his/her decision, the appeal shall be forwarded to Immigration Appellate Board. Legal Aid If an appeal is submitted to the DI, the asylum seeker shall be provided an attorney-at-law. In some cases, the persons who had filed appeals against the decisions dismissing their asylum applications may stay in Norway while the appellate procedure is in progress. However, it may happen that they will be ordered to leave the country while the procedure is in progress if the DI finds that an asylum application is manifestly groundless and if the case falls under 48 hours procedure. Appellate Period

Any appeal must be filed within the period of 3 weeks from the date of receipt of the decision. An extension of this term may be required. In such a case, the reason for which the extension is requested must be specified. Pecuniary Aid Amounts of pecuniary aid are not specifically mentioned, nor any right to any kind of pecuniary aid. It is most probable that there is no such option.

SWEDEN
Duration of the Procedure? It depends on a large number of factors, such as the number of asylum seekers received and the complexity of their cases. It is said on the web page of the Swedish Migration Board that the procedure should be completed within the period of 6 months. Accommodation While waiting for the decision, the asylum applicants shall be offered accommodation by the Migration Board. It means that an asylum seeker must go to a place where the Migration Board has available accommodation. Temporary accommodation is mostly provided in regular housing blocks in towns of small and medium sizes. If an asylum seeker is single, he/she must live with other asylum seekers who are also single. Legal aid for asylum seekers is free of charge. A legal representative shall explicitly work for the asylum seeker and protect his/her interests. Financial Support If an asylum seeker has no job, no savings and no income, he/she may file a request to the Migration Board to be granted daily pecuniary aid. This is a certain amount of money that should cover essential costs. This amount depends on family circumstances and living manners (I suppose it depends on the type of accommodation, whether it is provided accommodation or accommodation with the family, friends). Asylum seekers shall get a bank card to which money shall be paid in their favour. Pecuniary Aid Food is free of charge at the reception centres and daily pecuniary aid amounts to:
y y y

SEK 24 (2.7 ) daily for single adults SEK 19 (2.1 ) daily for adults sharing accommodation SEK 12 (1.3 ) daily for a child up to 17 years of age (from the third child and for each next child the amount of pecuniary aid is double less)

The amount of daily pecuniary aid that should be sufficient to purchase food is as follows:
y y y y y y

SEK 71 (7.9 ) daily for single adults SEK 61 (6.8 ) daily for adults sharing accommodation SEK 37 (4.1 ) daily for a child up to 3 years of age SEK 43 (4.8 ) daily for a child from 4 to 10 years of age SEK 50 (5.6 ) daily for a child from 11 to 17 years of age (from the third child and for each next child the amount of pecuniary aid is double less) In addition to food expenses, the amount of daily pecuniary aid should be sufficient to cover the following costs: clothes and footwear, medical care and medicaments, den tal protection, hygiene aids and other needs. Pecuniary Aid for Accommodation If an asylum seeker has been offered a job he/she had accepted, he/she may apply for pecuniary aid for accommodation. This is valid if the employment is for more than 3 months and if the person concerned should go to a place where the Migration Board has no accommodation. The amounts are as follows:

y y

SEK 850 (94.5 ) monthly for a family SEK 350 (39 ) monthly for a single person Right to An Appeal If an asylum seeker finds that the Migration Board had adopted a wrong decision in respect of pecuniary aid, there is a possibility to file an appeal, which is to be filed to the Migration Board within 21 days from the date on which the person concerned had been informed about the decision. If the Migration Board does not change the decision, the case shall be forwarded to an administrative court for examination of the decision of the Migration Board.

THE NETHERLANDS
The decision on an asylum application shall be adopted within 6 months. In exceptional cases, this term may be extended for another 6 months at maximum. For special cases, this term may be extended for a year based on the decision of the relevant ministry. The Central Agency for Reception of Asylum Seekers shall provide to asylum seekers the information and advise, accommodation, bedding, furniture at the premises of their accommodation and pay to them weekly pecuniary aid. This amount is regulated in the Regulation on Provisions for Asylum Seekers and Other Categories of Aliens 2005 (RVA 2005), which I could not find on the Internet but I could find some paper of student of the University of Amsterdam specifying the following: The Central Agency shall provide to asylum seekers:
accommodation; weekly financial support for food, clothes and other personal expenses; non-returnable aid for clothes; recreation and educational activities; compensation of medical expenses in accordance with the agreement on medical expenses; liability insurance; and pecuniary amount for extraordinary expenses.

Weekly financial support shall depend on age and whether he/she must buy food on his/her own and it amounts to 40 at maximum. Aid for clothes shall amount to 36 and shall be granted on single basis upon arrival. Extraordinary expenses are expenses that cannot be expected to be paid by asylum seekers because of their nature and value. A previous approval must be obtained for them from the competent authorities, and court administration fees and travelling costs are examples of such extraordinary expenses. In respect of asylum shopping, the Joint European Policy for Asylum Seekers is being prepared, which shall also resolve those issues and the amendment of regulations governing asylum issues has also been stipulated. The percentage of persons who apply again in other member status is 12%. There are member states wherein it is prohibited to apply again for asylum alter the first dismissal, and there are also certain countries wherein it is not prohibited, so asylum seekers use this option.

You might also like