Country Report: Romania 2020 update Acknowledgements & Methodology This report was written by Felicia Nica with support from the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Romania and was edited by ECRE. The information in this report draws upon statistics provided by the General Immigration Inspectorate (IGI), interviews throughout 2020 with relevant stakeholders at IGI and civil society organisations, including legal counsellors providing services in the different Regional Centres for Accommodation and Procedures for Asylum Seekers of the country (Timișoara, Şomcuta Mare, Rădăuţi, Galaţi, Bucharest and Giurgiu), as well as visits to the Public Custody Centre of Otopeni on 5 February 2021 and the Public Custody Centre of Arad on 9 February 2021. Permission requests to visit Timișoara, Bucharest and Giurgiu Regional Reception Centres were refused by IGI-DAI due to the pandemic situation. However, interviews were held with the directors of Bucharest and Timisoara centres remotely, as for Giurgiu answers were provided via email. The information in this report is up-to-date as of 31 December 2020, unless otherwise stated. The Asylum Information Database (AIDA) The Asylum Information Database (AIDA) is coordinated by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). It aims to provide up-to date information on asylum practice in 23 countries. This includes 19 EU Member States (AT, BE, BG, CY, DE, ES, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IT, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SE, SI) and 4 non-EU countries (Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom) which is easily accessible to the media, researchers, advocates, legal practitioners and the general public through the dedicated website www.asylumineurope.org. The database also seeks to promote the implementation and transposition of EU asylum legislation reflecting the highest possible standards of protection in line with international refugee and human rights law and based on best practice. This report is part of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) funded by the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), a collaborative initiative of the Network of European Foundations, and the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). The contents of the report are the sole responsibility of the author, JRS Romania and ECRE and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of EPIM or the European Commission. Table of Contents Glossary & List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................... 6 Statistics ................................................................................................................................ 7 Overview of the legal framework .......................................................................................... 9 Overview of the main changes since the first report .........................................................11 Asylum Procedure ................................................................................................................13 A. General ....................................................................................................................................... 13 1. Flow chart ................................................................................................................................. 13 2. Types of procedures ................................................................................................................ 14 3. List of authorities that intervene in each stage of the procedure ............................................. 14 4. Number of staff and nature of the first instance authority ........................................................ 14 5. Short overview of the asylum procedure .................................................................................. 16 B. Access to the procedure and registration .............................................................................. 18 1. Access to the territory and push backs .................................................................................... 18 2. Registration of the asylum application ..................................................................................... 28 C. Procedures ................................................................................................................................ 31 1. Regular procedure ................................................................................................................... 31 2. Dublin ....................................................................................................................................... 54 3. Admissibility procedure ............................................................................................................ 62 4. Border procedure (border and transit zones) ........................................................................... 63 5. Accelerated procedure ............................................................................................................. 67 D. Guarantees for vulnerable groups .......................................................................................... 70 1. Identification ............................................................................................................................. 70 2. Special procedural guarantees ................................................................................................ 74 3. Use of medical reports ............................................................................................................. 75 4. Legal representation of unaccompanied children .................................................................... 78 E. Subsequent applications ......................................................................................................... 82 F. The safe country concepts ...................................................................................................... 85 1. Safe country of origin ............................................................................................................... 85 2. Safe third country ..................................................................................................................... 86 3. First country of asylum ............................................................................................................. 87 G. Information for asylum seekers and access to NGOs and UNHCR ..................................... 87 1. Provision of information on the procedure ............................................................................... 87 2. Access to NGOs and UNHCR.................................................................................................. 92 H. Differential treatment of specific nationalities in the procedure ......................................... 92 Reception Conditions ...........................................................................................................94 A. Access and forms of reception conditions ............................................................................ 94 1. Criteria and restrictions to access reception conditions ........................................................... 94 2. Forms and levels of material reception conditions ................................................................... 98 3. Reduction or withdrawal of reception conditions.................................................................... 101 4. Freedom of movement ........................................................................................................... 103 B. Housing .................................................................................................................................... 105 1. Types of accommodation ....................................................................................................... 105 2. Conditions in reception facilities ............................................................................................. 106 C. Employment and education ................................................................................................... 111 1. Access to the labour market................................................................................................... 111 2. Access to education ............................................................................................................... 112 D. Health care ............................................................................................................................... 115 E. Special reception needs of vulnerable groups .................................................................... 117 F. Information for asylum seekers and access to reception centres .................................... 122 1. Provision of information on reception ..................................................................................... 122 2. Access to reception centres by third parties .......................................................................... 123 G. Differential treatment of specific nationalities in reception ............................................... 124 Detention of Asylum Seekers ............................................................................................ 125 A. General ..................................................................................................................................... 125 B. Legal framework of detention ...............................................................................................