Monthly data collection on the migration situation in the EU January 2017 monthly report 1–31 December 2016 Highlights: 1-31 December 2016 ................................................................. 2 1. Austria ........................................................................................... 16 2. Bulgaria .......................................................................................... 24 3. Denmark ........................................................................................ 33 4. Finland ........................................................................................... 44 5. France ............................................................................................ 53 6. Germany ........................................................................................ 62 7. Greece ........................................................................................... 71 8. Hungary ......................................................................................... 77 9. Italy ............................................................................................... 85 10. Netherlands .................................................................................... 97 11. Poland .......................................................................................... 102 12. Slovakia ....................................................................................... 110 13. Spain ........................................................................................... 116 14. Sweden ........................................................................................ 124 DISCLAIMER: These reports were commissioned under contract by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). The content was prepared by the Agency’s contracted research network, Franet. The reports contain descriptive data that were based mainly on interviews, and do not include analysis or conclusions. They are made publicly available for information and transparency purposes only, and do not constitute legal advice or legal opinion. The reports do not necessarily reflect the views or official position of FRA. Highlights: 1-31 December 2016 With the onset of winter across Europe, many fundamental rights risks for migrants and refugees have become increasingly acute. As temperatures continue to drop, timely humanitarian action and adequate shelter are urgently needed – particularly in Bulgaria, Hungary and Greece, where facilities are in poor condition or people are staying in tents. New arrivals External land and sea borders Arrivals to Italy and Greece continue to decrease: some 8,680 persons arrive in Italy and some 1,660 in Greece. For Greece, this is a 17 % drop in arrivals compared with November 2016. In 2016, the majority of arrivals to Greece were women and children (58 %). Many people continue trying to enter Hungary. Some 470 persons enter Hungary irregularly, including 43 children. The Hungarian police prevents 2,290 persons from climbing over the fence – significantly more than in November (1,000). The police also returns 1,400 persons who are apprehended within 8 km of the border to Serbia, where they have to wait to apply for asylum in one of the transit zones; this is slightly more than in November (1,060). Reports continue to emerge about severe violence by the police and local vigilante groups. Arrivals in Bulgaria further decrease to some 440 persons, who are apprehended at the borders and within Bulgarian territory. A woman from Somalia who tried to reach western Europe is found dead in the Strandzha Mountains in Bulgaria; she presumably froze to death. Several others who are apprehended, including children, suffer from frostbite. Slovakian authorities apprehend some 260 persons, mainly from the Ukraine. Internal borders and airports Sweden receives fewer than 2,000 asylum seekers, the lowest monthly figure in 2016. Among them are more than 740 children, 108 of whom are unaccompanied. Arrivals in Austria continue at a steady level of some 2,740 persons in December, mainly coming from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Morocco and Iraq. Criminal proceedings According to the Swedish Aliens Act, any person intentionally assisting an alien to unlawfully enter or pass through Sweden shall be sentenced for human smuggling, and subject to imprisonment for up to two years. In Hungary and Poland, facilitation is also punishable without intended or actual profit. 2 In Sweden, a young man is sentenced to three months in prison for transporting a family with two children, whom he met at a gas station in Denmark, across the bridge to Sweden. He had not received any compensation and wanted to help the children. In Poland, 25 proceedings for facilitation were launched in 2016; in Hungary, 27 such proceedings were launched between October and December 2016. In Denmark and Germany, some migrants are prosecuted for trying to facilitate their relatives’ entry into the country. In Denmark, persons who are found guilty of facilitation can be subject to expulsion in addition to a fine or prison sentence. In France, criminal proceedings are launched against several persons who offered transportation or accommodation to persons irregularly entering France from Italy. The police in Bulgaria apprehend 111 persons for smuggling. All proceedings concern persons who acted for profit. Prison sentences are issued in several cases of irregular border crossing. Italy arrests many newly arrived persons for smuggling and some for human trafficking. Initial registration and asylum processing At the border Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Italy continue to report that most disembarkations occur outside the hotspot system. Under these circumstances, identification practices are less clear and information on international protection cannot always be provided. This also results from an overall lack of cultural mediators and interpreters. In Poland, more than 24,000 persons are refused entry at the border. Some 120 persons manage to have their asylum applications registered and some 50 persons their subsequent applications. Border guards reportedly continue to refuse entry to persons wishing to apply for asylum. In Terespol, this affects some 1,000 to 1,500 persons, 60 % of whom are children. NGOs report that only two to three families manage to have their applications officially registered per day, often after submitting them some 30 or more times. Facilities for interviewing applicants at the border do not ensure privacy or confidentiality. Every day, about 120 persons wait for admission to one of the transit zones at the Hungarian-Serbian border, where admission continues to be restricted to 10 persons a day. Families wait for up to six and a half months for admission, and unaccompanied children typically wait two and a half months, according to NGOs. Despite the weather conditions, people wait for their turn outside the gates of the transit areas for several days, sleeping in self-made tents made of sticks and blankets, to avoid missing their chance for admission. 3 Amnesty International reports on collective expulsions, immediate returns without individual assessments and police violence in Ceuta and Melilla, Spain. Asylum Some 1,160 persons were relocated from Greece to other EU Member States in December 2016, the majority to France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. In Germany, asylum applications further decrease by almost 20% in November, to some 26,440 applications. Applications from Afghans, Iraqis and Syrians remain the most common. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees delivered a record 86,049 decisions in November. Nonetheless, some 490,000 asylum procedures were still pending in December. Social workers in Germany report that some persons do not have their travel and other documents because these were withheld during their travel or at the border. Such documents are often difficult to trace because persons are not sure to which authority they submitted their documents, complicating further procedures – including possible return. Asylum applications in Bulgaria further decrease to 815, and include some 290 from children. Apprehended persons receive insufficient information on their rights. Interpreters are often paid late and not always available beyond registration procedures. In Finland, asylum applications continue to decrease to some 240 in December. In total, 5,651 persons applied for asylum in Finland in 2016, including more than 400 unaccompanied children. Compared with 2015, asylum applications in France increased by 10 % in 2016. The majority of applicants come from Afghanistan, Albania, Syria and Sudan. Access to asylum procedures is reportedly difficult in France. Associations and staff without the necessary legal knowledge primarily provide information on asylum, and interpretation is often unavailable. In Denmark, Moroccans represent the second largest nationality among the asylum seekers (after Syrians) and remain the most common nationality among unaccompanied children in November. Denmark suspends the transfer of asylum seekers to Hungary under the Dublin Regulation due to the risk of possible rights violations. The majority are informed that their applications will be processed in Denmark because the time limits foreseen in the Dublin Regulation have passed. Other applicants, however, might be transferred as the appeal against this decision remains pending. Overall numbers of asylum applications in Poland did not change significantly in