Introduction
This report discusses the concept of vulnerability and the complexities underlying its use in asylum procedures in Europe. Vulnerability bears different meanings and dimensions in asylum systems. It points to a definition, whether describing the precarious and sensitive position of all people seeking protection, not least due to their legal status, or demarcating specific classes of individuals who face distinct needs due to their particular physical, mental or social circumstances. Beyond being a concept, vulnerability can be a tool for categorisation of the asylum-seeking population, which may create ground for procedural fragmentation at European Union (EU) and national level.
Addressing the predicament of vulnerable groups seeking protection in the asylum procedure presupposes an understanding of who they are and what they need. Vulnerability therefore connotes a process of identification and assessment, where the state apparatus comes into contact with the individual asylum seeker. Such a process requires adequate systems, drawing on the capacities and skills of different official and non-governmental actors involved in the asylum procedure to ensure that vulnerabilities are recognised in a timely and effective manner. European countries offer a wide variety of approaches to that end, ranging from formal identification mechanisms to informal arrangements with civil society actors, to medical methods for identifying certain vulnerable groups.
Once identified as vulnerable, applicants enjoy specific rights and safeguards in the asylum process under EU law. Vulnerability should therefore trigger additional or tailored support to ensure that people have the necessary conditions to bring forward a claim for protection. Against the backdrop of a multi-track Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which foresees different administrative arrangements depending on the location or the presumed merits of an asylum application, vulnerable asylum seekers may benefit from more protective procedures and be safeguarded from truncated ones.
The effective implementation of special obligations owed to vulnerable asylum seekers remains one of the most challenging aspects of the CEAS and a central feature of the ongoing reform of the EU asylum acquis following the legislative proposals presented by the European Commission in 2016. The analysis of legislative frameworks and practice of European countries covered by the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) provides a useful basis for a better understanding of disparities, good practices and gaps in the way states have translated vulnerability into a concept and process.
This report draws on desk research, primarily based on AIDA Country Reports, as well as on information and statistical data obtained by civil society organisations from national authorities. Given the range of state actors involved in the identification and support of vulnerable groups in the asylum process, national authorities approached for the purpose of this research include determining authorities taking decisions on asylum applications, as well as other authorities responsible for receiving applications, Dublin Units and border authorities. Information was also provided by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) on its specific activities relating to vulnerable groups.
The report is structured in three chapters:
Chapter I discusses vulnerability as a legal concept and its implications on the categorisation of asylum seekers, as well as the definitions of “vulnerable” applicant, “applicant with special reception needs” and “applicant in need of special procedural guarantees” set out by EU law and diversely codified in national legislation;
Chapter II provides an overview of national practice concerning mechanisms for identification of vulnerable asylum seekers, institutional and training arrangements in asylum administrations to ensure that the needs of such applicants are met, and the role of EASO in vulnerability assessments. This Chapter includes a focus on age assessment of unaccompanied children as a specific form of identification;
Chapter III examines the procedural effects of vulnerability identification in the law and practice of European countries, particularly as regards the prioritisation of asylum claims by vulnerable persons, their exemption from accelerated and border procedures, as well as the adaptation of the Dublin procedure to their specific situation and needs.
A final part draws conclusions and puts forward recommendations to European countries and EU institutions for the establishment of efficient systems for the identification and support of vulnerable asylum seekers.