By Martin Banks - 13th September 2010
There is a need to improve and further harmonise the asylum procedures
Morten Kjaerum
A new report by an EU agency has highlighted "wide discrepancies" in the way member states deal with applications for asylum.
The report, by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), compares asylum seekers' experience in all member states.
It shows, for instance, that in Italy 95 per cent of applications from people from Somalia were accepted while Greece approved only 3.7 per cent.
Britain accepted 19.1 per cent of applications for asylum from Iraqis compared with 78 per cent by the authorities in Italy.
The Vienna-based agency interviewed 900 asylum seekers in all 27 member states about their experience of the asylum procedure.
It is now calling for asylum procedures to be "harmonised and improved".
The demand comes ahead of a meeting in Brussels on Monday of EU interior ministers where the issue of asylum is expected to be discussed.
Speaking at a news conference, FRA director Morten Kjaerum said, "Substantial differences exist between the asylum procedures in member states, creating an uneven playing field.
"There is a need to improve and further harmonise the asylum procedures in the EU. A fair asylum procedure is one where applicants know their rights and duties. This is often not the case across the EU.
"The agency's research findings underpin the need for the European commission's proposals to amend and improve existing EU legislation relating to asylum procedures. Better implementation of existing legislation is also imperative."
In order to ensure "fair and effective" asylum procedures throughout the EU he said asylum decisions should be provided in a language that the asylum seeker understands, ideally both in writing and orally.
He said information about how to appeal should be accompanied by information about accessing legal assistance.
The agency also recommends that fee legal assistance should be made available and time limits for submitting an appeal be "reasonable" and procedures for lodging an appeal should be as "simple as possible".
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