In a case involving three homosexual men seeking refugee status in the Netherlands who come from countries where homosexual acts are criminal offences (Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Senegal) the national court raised three questions concerning the assessment of applications for refugee status under the provisions of Chapter III of Council Directive 2004/83/EC (‘the Directive’). First, do third country nationals who are homosexual form a particular social group within the meaning of Article 10(1)(d) of the Directive?
EASO's newsletter for March 2013 contains a section on a new proposal aimed at linking EASO's different COI-related activities into one coherent structure entitled "EASO COI Network approach". The proposal comprises the creation of a Strategic COI Network composed of COI heads of units or experts from the Member States, associated countries, the EU Commission and UNHCR which would discuss issues at a strategic level, and the setting up of specific expert networks on specific countries, regions or themes to exchange information and harmonize COI practices.
The Schengen Information System allows competent authorities to issue and consult alerts on persons who may have been involved in serious crime or may not have the right to enter or stay in the EU. It will also contain information on missing persons or certain objects such as firearms or stolen vehicles. The data concerning persons include all the data necessary to confirm their identity including picture and fingerprints, as well as relevant information about the alert and the action to be taken.
From now on, asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their application in Greece might be detained for up to 18 months. The provisions governing the maximum length of time by which asylum seekers' detention can be extended have recently been changed.
In its latest position paper, the Red Cross EU office has released a position paper calling on the EU and its member states to ensure that asylum seekers have safe and effective legal avenues to the EU territory to exercise their right to international protection. The paper puts forward nine recommendations aimed at ensuring access to asylum procedures, particularly by respecting refugee and human rights standards at the borders, not penalising the irregular entry of asylum seekers and ensuring an effective right of appeal against denial of entry.
The applicant, Seydmajed Ahmade, is an Afghan national who lives in Athens (Greece). Mr Ahmade arrived in Greece on 23 December 2007. He was arrested several times between then and 11 August 2008 and each time various removal decisions were taken against him. Following a fight, the applicant was arrested again on 27 August 2009. His removal was ordered once again and he was held at the police station on the ground that he posed a threat to public order and was likely to abscond on account of the criminal proceedings against him concerning the fight.
The applicant, Makhmudzhan Ergashev, is a Kyrgyzstani national who has been living in St Petersburg (Russia) since July 2006. He is an ethnic Uzbek and lived in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan before he left for Russia. In 2007, criminal proceedings were brought against Mr Ergashev in Kyrgyzstan on suspicion of embezzlement of State funds, allegedly committed in 2006-07. He was charged in absentia, declared a wanted person and an order for him to be remanded in custody was issued. In August 2010, he was arrested in Russia and detained with a view to his extradition.
The Council and the Parliament have reached an agreement on the EUROSUR regulation. This agreement will be formally adopted by the Parliament in September and later on by the Council. EUROSUR will establish a mechanism that will allow border surveillance authorities to share operational information among themselves and with FRONTEX in order to reduce the number of irregular immigrants entering the EU undetected. The regulation will apply to the surveillance of land and sea external borders.
The applicant, Mr. K., is a Russian national of Chechen origin who lives in Vienna. After the killing of his father and after having suffered arrests and beatings by Russian soldiers himself, he arrived in Austria together with his mother in 2004 and requested asylum. Their claims were rejected. However, on appeal his mother was recognized as a refugee.
During its meeting on 6-7 December the Council confirmed the political agreement on the Dublin Regulation and was informed about the state-of-play of the outstanding legislative proposals concerning the Common European Asylum System:
