National Asylum Developments Database

 

The National Asylum Developments Database presents legislative, institutional and policy developments related to asylum since 2018.

Searches can be narrowed down by:

  • Country
  • Year
  • Type of development: legislative, institutional or policy 
  • Thematic area: access to procedure, access to information, legal assistance and representation, interpretation services, special procedures, procedures at first instance, reception of applicants for international protection, detention, procedures at second instance, country of origin information, statelessness in the asylum context, content of protection, return of former applicants, resettlement and humanitarian admission programmes.

Details on each development and further analysis can be consulted in the Asylum Report series.
 

Types of policies and practices reported in the National Asylum Developments Database

The National Asylum Developments Database can be searched by institutional, legislative and policy changes. There are three types of policy developments:

Policies and practices related to the integrity of national asylum systems aim to swiftly identify unfounded asylum applications and ensure that financial, human and administrative resources are not dissipated on such claims. These measures involve efforts to rapidly establish an applicant’s identity, including age, country of origin, travel route and security concerns if any. These facts help to better assess the credibility of the applicant’s statements and determine whether beneficiaries of international protection are still in need of protection. The prevention of unintentional misuse of the asylum procedure and its integrity are also supported by the provision of information to asylum applicants and beneficiaries of international protection on their respective rights and obligations and related procedural arrangements.

Policies and practices that improve the efficiency of national asylum systems include digitalisation and the use of new technologies in the framework of asylum, prioritising or fast-tracking applications, the re-organisation of the procedure itself or implementing changes in the number of staff employed.

Policy and practice aiming to enhance the quality of national asylum systems contribute to increasing fairness, integrity and efficiency. Quality assurance systems, guidance materials and capacity-building measures typically pay off on the initial investment and efforts. The initiatives include staff training, revising existing guidance materials and monitoring the quality of the decisions delivered.

The database presents validated factual information and does not imply any endorsement from the European Commission or EUAA.

Flag Country Year Type of development Thematic area Development Source
Greece Flag Greece 2024 Policy Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups A memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, UNHCR and the University of Western Attica (PADA) to coordinate efforts in the field of child protection. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Greece Flag Greece 2024 Policy Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Under the National Strategy for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors, a new complementary support mechanism was launched (Pyxida–Compass). It aims to create five specialised service centres, focusing on mental health, legal assistance and support against school dropout. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Greece Flag Greece 2024 Policy Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups The Mentors Group, comprising former unaccompanied children who act as role models for their peers, launched a video series called ‘Learning with Mentors’ to provide information in a simple language on various aspects of integration. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Greece Flag Greece 2024 Policy Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups A new project FORTIFY was launched to strengthen the protection for and prevention of delinquency in unaccompanied minor applicants. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Federal Cabinet adopted a draft law to further digitalise migration management, which will reduce the burden on authorities and speed up administrative processes. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees postponed decisions on applications by Syrian nationals. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees provided EUR 100 million from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund to support the creation of 20,836 accommodation places. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Policy Country of origin information Country of origin information Various improvements aimed to improve access to COI. For example, a BAMFGPT was piloted to allow case officers to make inquires through a chat. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Legislative Return of former applicants Return of former applicants According to the new law to improve domestic security and the asylum system, measures will be taken to simplify the removal of rejected asylum applicants who have committed a criminal offence. Similarly, the return procedure was amended, allowing search and custody options to be extended to identify the country of origin of a person who will be returned or locate people obliged to return. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection The Bundesrat approved amendments to the citizenship law. Special integration efforts are now rewarded with earlier qualification for naturalisation and allowing to retain the original citizenship upon naturalisation. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection According to the new law to improve domestic security and the asylum system, beneficiaries of international protection lose their status when they travel to the country of origin, unless the travel is considered ‘morally essential’. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance A new legislative proposal was made to amend the Code of Administrative Course Procedure. It aims to extend the use of individual judges to decisions of asylum proceedings. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The federal government adopted two draft laws to adapt national law to the new Common European Asylum System. They will impact administrative practices at the federal, state and local levels. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance According to the new law to improve domestic security and the asylum system, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees may now use biometric data to establish the identity of applicants. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Legislative The Dublin procedure The Dublin procedure According to the new law to improve domestic security and the asylum system, applicants in the Dublin procedure no longer receive social benefits when the other country has accepted responsibility, and the transfer is possible. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Policy Return of former applicants Return of former applicants The government announced that for the first time since 2021 it will carry out removals of Afghan nationals to their country of origin. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Policy Return of former applicants Return of former applicants In January 2025, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees started to organise voluntary departures to Syria, providing support in organising the journey and covering the cost of the travel ticket. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
Germany Flag Germany 2024 Policy Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups The federal government adopted its first National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Human Trafficking. It refers to the identification of vulnerable applicants and the implementation of referral mechanisms in counselling centres. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
France Flag France 2024 Policy Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups The government launched the 2024-2027 National Plan to Combat the Exploitation and Trafficking of Human Beings with the aim of strengthening the protection of victims and the effectiveness of the criminal policy to dismantle and convict criminal networks. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
France Flag France 2024 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The new Law for Controlling Immigration and Improving Integration provides for the creation of territorial hubs to reduce processing times. The hubs bring together the authority responsible for the registration (prefectures), the authority responsible for the lodging of applications (OFPRA), and the authority responsible for providing material reception conditions (OFII). EUAA Asylum Report 2025
France Flag France 2024 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance A new decree introduced an obligation for the prefect to inform the Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) and the Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII) when they have information that an applicant is a beneficiary of protection in another Member State. According to the new Law for Controlling Immigration and Improving Integration, if the applicant had indeed received protection equivalent to international protection in another Member State, OFPRA may now take an inadmissibility decision. Moreover, in these cases, it is now possible to use videoconferencing to conduct interviews. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
France Flag France 2024 Policy Content of protection Content of protection In principle, OFPRA no longer requires the family reference form, which was used to establish the civil status of the beneficiary and to confirm their family situation. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
France Flag France 2024 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance OFPRA approved the rules on personal data transfers. They specify the purposes of the data processing, the data recorded, the people who have access to it, and the rights of the people concerned. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
France Flag France 2024 Policy Content of protection Content of protection The Ministry of the Interior set up two new language training projects. One aims to provide more language classes to meet the new language requirements defined by law, while the second aims to improve the employability of beneficiaries and facilitate their subsequent access to training to obtain qualifications. EUAA Asylum Report 2025
France Flag France 2024 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection The new Law for Controlling Immigration and Improving Integration will make the issuance of the first multi-annual residence permit conditional on the mastery of a minimum level of French. EUAA Asylum Report 2025