C. Dublin Convention: State Responsible For Examining Applications For Asylum Lodged In One Of The Member States Of The European Communities
1) OBJECTIVE
To determine the Member State responsible for examining an application
for asylum, a matter that is not settled by the Geneva Convention on the
status of refugees. The application of this Convention will ensure that
every asylum-seeker's application will be examined by a Member State,
unless a "safe" non-Member country can be considered as responsible.
This will avoid situations of refugees being shuttled from one Member
States to another, with none accepting responsibility, as well as multiple
serial or simultaneous applications.
2) UNION
MEASURES
Convention determining the State responsible for examining applications
for asylum lodged in one of the Member States of the European Communities
signed in Dublin on 15 June 1990.
3) CONTENTS
1. For the purposes of this Convention:
"alien"
means any person other than a national of a Member State;
"application for asylum" means a request whereby an alien seeks
protection from a Member State under the Geneva Convention, by claiming
refugee status (Article 1);
"applicant for asylum" means an alien who has made an application
for asylum in respect of which a final decision has not yet been taken;
"examination of an application for asylum" means all the measures
for the examination of and decisions on an application for asylum;
"residence permit" means any authorisation issued by the authorities
of a Member State allowing an alien to stay in its territory;
"entry visa" means authorisation by a Member State to enable
an alien to enter its territory.
2. The Member States reaffirm their obligations under the Geneva Convention, as amended by the New York Protocol, with no geographic restriction, and their commitment to co-operating with the services of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Article 2). They also undertake to examine the application of any alien who applies at the border or in their territory to any one of them for asylum (Article 3(1)).
3. The following criteria, which apply in the order in which they appear, are used to determine which Member State is responsible for examining the application (Article 3(2)):
If the applicant for asylum has a family member who has been recognised as having refugee status within the meaning of the Geneva Convention in a Member State, and is legally resident there, that state will be responsible, provided the person concerned so desires (Article 4);
If the applicant is in possession of a valid residence permit, the Member State which issued it will be responsible for examining the application for asylum (Article 5(1));
If the applicant is in possession of one or more valid visas or visas that have expired, the Member State that issued it/them will be responsible for examining the asylum application (Article 5(2) to (4));
If it can be proved that the applicant for asylum irregularly crossed the border into a Member State by land, sea or air, having come from a non-member state, the Member State thus entered will be responsible, unless the applicant has been living in the Member State where the application for asylum was presented for at least six months before making the application (Article 6);
The Member State responsible for controlling the entry of the alien into the territory of the Member States will be responsible for examining the application for asylum unless the alien first entered a Member State where the visa obligation is waived, before presenting an application for asylum in another Member State where the visa obligation is also waived (Article 7);
If none of these criteria applies, the first Member State in which the application for asylum is lodged is responsible for examining it (Article 8);
However, any Member State, even if it is not responsible under the criteria laid down in the Convention, may, for humanitarian reasons, examine an application for asylum at the request of another Member State, provided that the applicant so desires (Article 9).
4. The Member State responsible is required to:
complete the examination of the application for asylum and take charge of the applicant throughout this period (Articles 10 and 11);
take back the applicant for asylum whose application is being examined, who has withdrawn his/her application or whose application has been rejected and who is illegally in another Member State (Articles 12 and 13).
5. The Member States will exchange information about national legislative measures and practices applicable in the field of asylum and about statistical data on monthly arrivals of applicants for asylum and their breakdown by nationality (Articles 14 and 15).
6. Any Member State may submit proposals for revision of the Convention to eliminate difficulties with its application. The Member State concerned proposes measures to deal with the situation or adopt such revisions or amendment to the Convention as appear necessary (Articles 16 and 17).
A committee consisting of a representative of each Member State and the Commission, and chaired by the Member State holding the presidency of the Council, is responsible for adopting any revisions and the essential implementing measures provided for by the Convention (Article 18).
4) DEADLINE
FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LEGISLATION IN THE MEMBER STATES
The Convention will enter into force for each acceding State on the first
day of the third month following the date of deposit of the instrument
of ratification.
5) DATE
OF ENTRY INTO FORCE (if different from the above)
The Convention entered into force on 1 September 1997 for the twelve original
signatories, on 1 October 1997 for Austria and Sweden and on 1 January
1998 for Finland.
6) REFERENCES
Official Journal C 254, 19.08.1997
7) FOLLOW-UP
WORK
On 20 June 1994 the Council adopted an instrument concerning means of
proof in the framework of the Dublin Convention [Official Journal C 274,
19.09.1996].
It specifies the elements which could be used to determine which Member
States is responsible for examining an asylum application. Two lists were
drawn up: the first sets out means of proof and the second indicative
evidence as to the Member State responsible.
On the same day the Council adopted a standard form for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application and a standard laissez-passer for the transfer of an asylum applicant from one Member State to another [Official Journal C 274, 19.09.1996].
On 27 May
1997 the Council adopted conclusions concerning the practical implementation
of the Dublin Convention [Official Journal C 191, 23.06.1997].
It specifies more clearly the time limits to be met by the Member States
when replying to a request that an applicant be taken in charge (maximum
one month) and specifies an urgent procedure and special circumstances
which can derogate from the fixed time limit. In addition, three-monthly
exchanges of statistics have been arranged concerning the practical implementation
of the Dublin Convention.
On 11 December
2000 the Council adopted a Regulation concerning the establishment of
" Eurodac " for the comparison of the fingerprints of applicants
for asylum and certain other aliens.
The Regulation establishes a central database containing the fingerprints
of asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants and thus facilitate application
of the Dublin Convention.