There are still huge differences in procedural rules and safeguards for asylum seekers across the EU, according to research published by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles.
The research was carried out in 14 member states, including Malta, as part of the report called Not There Yet: An NGO Perspective on Challenges to a Fair and Effective Common European Asylum System.
Despite more than 12 years of harmonising national asylum policies and the adoption of the asylum package last June, the council said there is still a long way to go to establish of a fair and efficient Common European Asylum System.
The asylum package introduced mandatory personal interviews for all asylum seekers; better representation for unaccompanied children; and allows asylum seekers in an accelerated procedure to request in court to stay in the territory while they appeal against a negative decision on their case.
From this research it transpired that cuts to legal aid as part of austerity measures are reducing the number of legal representatives available to provide assistance to asylum seekers and refugees.
It also highlights that effective access to quality legal assistance is least available where it is most needed, such as in accelerated procedures, at the border or in detention.
The report draws on the fact that in Malta – as well as in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Poland and the UK – there is either no free legal assistance for asylum seekers at the first instance or they still experience difficulties even though such a right is established by law.
Where free legal assistance at the first instance is not required under national law, the only way for asylum seekers to receive free legal assistance is through NGOs or committed lawyers willing to take their case on a pro bono basis.
Lawyer Katrine Camilleri from the Jesuit Refugee Services, an NGO that promotes the rights of asylum seekers, explained it was often very difficult for asylum seekers to obtain advice or information about the procedures and what was expected of them.
“The fact that many asylum seekers are detained only exacerbates these problems,” said Dr Camilleri.
The report also underlines that the right of asylum seekers to lodge an appeal when their case has been rejected in some member states is undermined as lawyers are not given enough time to prepare.
In other cases, lodging an appeal does not automatically lead to the suspension of the removal order as this request must be made separately.
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles said such systems added to the workload of already overburdened courts while increasing the risk that asylum seekers were sent back to their country of origin and subjected to serious human rights violations.
The report says more than 13,000 asylum seekers were detained in the UK in 2012. It also refers to Malta’s decision to detain the vast majority of asylum seekers arriving in the island for months “in overcrowded military barracks”.
The ECRE is a pan-European alliance of 76 NGOs that defend the rights of individuals who seek refuge and protection in Europe.