Case management, identity controls and screening on national security and 1F exclusion A comparative study on Syrian asylum seekers in five European countries Maarten Bolhuis Joris van Wijk Acknowledgements This report was written by Maarten Bolhuis and Joris van Wijk, researchers working at the Center of International Criminal Justice, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The research was commissioned by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (Utlendingsdirektoratet, UDI). Members of the Reference Group included three representatives of UDI, a representative of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security, a representative of the Norwegian National Police Immigration Service (PU) and a representative of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST). The authors would like to thank the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration and all members of the Reference Group for their valuable feedback and practical assistance in performing the research. Finally, the authors would like to thank all respondents and experts for sharing their knowledge and views. © 2018 Maarten P. Bolhuis & Joris van Wijk. Cover photo: ‘Wind-formed trees’ by Mike Green 2 Table of content List of acronyms ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Sammendrag .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 12 1.1. Objective of the study ................................................................................................................. 12 1.2. Rationale and research context .................................................................................................. 12 1.3. Research questions ..................................................................................................................... 13 1.4. Outline of the report ................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2. Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 16 2.1 Review of academic literature, policy documents and relevant rules and regulations ................ 16 2.2. Interviews ................................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.1. Selection of respondents ..................................................................................................... 16 2.2.2. Approach .............................................................................................................................. 19 2.3. Expert meeting............................................................................................................................ 20 2.4. Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 3. Context and challenges during the high influx ..................................................................... 22 3.1. Context high influx in focus countries ......................................................................................... 22 3.1.1. Background of the conflict in Syria ...................................................................................... 22 3.1.2. Migration from Syria and the European ‘migrant crisis’ ...................................................... 24 3.1.3. Recognition rates and status given to Syrian applicants ...................................................... 26 3.1.4. Involvement in serious crimes and national security risks ................................................... 30 3.2. Challenges presented by the high influx ..................................................................................... 34 3.2.1. Infrastructural challenges and registration/identification capacity ..................................... 35 3.2.2. Reception and accommodation ........................................................................................... 37 3.2.3. Staff ...................................................................................................................................... 38 3.2.4. Challenges in relation to establishing identity and security ................................................. 38 3.4. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 40 Chapter 4. Organisational capacity and influx management since 2014 ............................................... 41 4.1. Responses aimed at reducing the number of asylum seekers .................................................... 41 4.2. Responses aimed at processing the increased number of asylum claims ................................... 43 4.2.1. Improving infrastructure, logistics, reception and accommodation .................................... 43 4.2.2. Improving case processing capacity ..................................................................................... 45 4.2.3. Improving staff capacity and competence ........................................................................... 52 3 4.3. Status quo and future perspective .............................................................................................. 57 4.3.1. Scaling down ........................................................................................................................ 57 4.3.2. Future perspective ............................................................................................................... 59 4.3.3. Preparedness for the future ................................................................................................ 64 4.4. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 65 Chapter 5. Establishment of identity and decision-making in cases concerning Syrian asylum seekers 67 5.1. The identification process ........................................................................................................... 67 5.1.1. Actors involved in the identification .................................................................................... 67 5.1.2. Procedure ............................................................................................................................ 69 5.2. Methods used to establish identity............................................................................................. 72 5.2.1. Investigation of documents ................................................................................................. 72 5.2.2. Language analysis ................................................................................................................ 76 5.2.3. Interviews ............................................................................................................................ 78 5.2.4. Country of origin checks ...................................................................................................... 81 5.2.5. Social media analysis ............................................................................................................ 81 5.2.6. Data carrier extraction ......................................................................................................... 85 5.2.7. Investigation of biometrics and facial photographs ............................................................. 89 5.2.8. Other methods for establishing the identity ........................................................................ 91 5.2.9. Re-assessment of established identity in Syrian cases ......................................................... 92 5.3. Information exchange on identity ............................................................................................... 94 5.4. Organisation of the decision-making process ............................................................................. 97 5.4.1. Organisation of decision making and country of origin specialisation ................................. 97 5.4.2. Particular issues or measures taken in response to the nature or scale of the influx from 2014 ............................................................................................................................................... 98 5.5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 99 Chapter 6. Organisation of the screening of Syrian asylum seekers in relation to national security and 1F exclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 101 6.1. Context national security and 1F exclusion ............................................................................... 101 6.1.1. ‘National security’ .............................................................................................................. 101 6.1.2. 1F exclusion ......................................................................................................................