The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published on 20/07/2012 its first 'Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union and on the Activities of the European Asylum Support Office for 2011. The report provides a comprehensive description of the situation of asylum in the EU in 2011, with a focus on areas in which EASO was involved in during this period.
A reference for a preliminary ruling concerning Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Returns Directive was published by the CJEU this week. It was lodged on 6 May by the Tribunal administratif de Pau (France) and the questions read as follows:
The Court of Appeal in the UK has granted stays preventing the removal of three asylum seekers to Cyprus in accordance with the Dublin Regulation while it awaits a pronouncement of the Supreme Court that should clarify the criteria under which a Dublin transfer should be discarded. In a case from the Appeals Court concerning a Dublin transfer to Italy, the Supreme Court is expected to establish whether systemic deficiencies in the asylum system and reception conditions are required to stop Dublin removals, or whether an individual risk of violations of ECHRs rights would suffice.
A reference for a preliminary ruling concerning the Dublin Regulation was published this week by the CJEU. It was lodged on 28 March 2013 by the Rechtbank Den Haag (Netherlands) and the questions read as follows:
(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Citizenship of the Union - Article 20 TFEU - Directive 2003/86/CE - Right to family reunification - Union citizens who are minor children living with their mothers, who are third country nationals, in the territory of the Member State of which the children are national - Permanent right of residence in that Member State of the mothers who have been granted sole custody of the Union citizens - Change in composition of the families following the mother's remarriage to third country nationals and the birth of children of those marriages who are also third
The Agriculture and Fisheries Council held on 25-26 February definitely adopted the decisions increasing the co-financing rate of the European Refugee Fund, the European Return Fund, the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals and the External Borders Fund for Member States experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability.
The applicants, Ahmed Rahmani, an Algerian national, and Dimka Dineva, a Bulgarian national, were born in 1964 and 1959 respectively and live in Stara Zagora (Bulgaria). A married couple, they complain about Mr Rahmani's detention pending execution of the removal order issued against him on the ground that he was unlawfully present in the country.
The Equal Rights Trust Guidelines to Protect Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention became available online on 10/07/2012. The Guidelines provide detailed guidance on how states should treat stateless persons in the context of immigration detention in order to comply with their obligations under international human rights law, in particular the rights to equality and non-discrimination and the right to be free from arbitrary detention.
(Asylum - Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 - Determination of the Member State responsible for examining an application for asylum lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national - Article 3(2) - Discretion of the Member States - Role of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Obligation of Member States to request that Office to present its views - None)
