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Interior resolves a record number of asylum applications

2021-01-08T16:13:44.753Z


The slowdown of the pandemic and the urgency of reducing the enormous volume of pending cases help to close 116,614 files in just one year


A family of Venezuelans, asylum seekers in Spain, at their home in Guadalajara.Nacho Izquierdo

The Asylum and Refugee Office (OAR), which depends on the Ministry of the Interior, has closed a hectic year.

Another one.

Despite the almost absolute halt and the border restrictions caused by the pandemic for almost three months, Spain has remained in 2020 as the main receiving country for asylum seekers from the European Union.

The 88,762 new requests received have, however, meant a 25% drop compared to 2019 and the slowdown has made it possible to address one of the major deficiencies of the system: reducing the

stock

of unresolved files.

In just one year, according to Interior, the inter-ministerial commission that studies asylum concessions has issued 116,614 resolutions, a historic figure since the Office was created in 1992.

Spain has problems managing asylum files diligently since it received thousands of Syrians seeking refuge in 2015, but the funnel worsened three years ago, when applications began to grow exponentially.

The OAR, a neglected department, without adequate means or personnel, was overwhelmed, going from 32,000 requests in 2017 to more than 118,000 in 2019. Spain then became one of the EU countries slowest to respond to requests and, in December 2019, it came to accumulate 23% of the half a million pending cases throughout the EU.

Complying with the six months established by law to respond to each request became an impossible mission, a gap that has a strong impact on the also precarious reception system that accumulates thousands of people waiting for a response.

Among the files resolved this year were cases from 2015.

There are still around 94,500 pending requests in the OAR drawers, but the resolution figures for 2020 reveal that the pace has doubled compared to 2019, when 62,592 requests were resolved, and that it is the first time since 2011 that they have been closed. more files than open.

"It has been a difficult year, but the staff of the Office have done an extraordinary job," celebrates the director general of Interior Policy, Carmen López, aware of the work that still needs to be done.

The Office is in the process of strengthening and this year 231 officials will be incorporated and a new computer system will be launched, two measures with which it is intended to adjust the system to the current reality.

"The medium and long-term plan is that we can comply in a timely manner and that we can assume the entire procedure that now, in part, is supported by the Police that carry out the interviews," says López.

Lower EU recognition rate

Spain is also the EU country with the lowest recognition rate in the EU, just 4%, according to the latest Eurostat data.

Germany recognizes 45% and France 19%.

More than half of the petitions studied have been unfavorably resolved and only slightly more than 5,000 people have received protection under the terms contemplated in the Geneva Convention for refugees.

Spain, however, has granted more than 40,000 residence and work permits for humanitarian reasons.

This formula, from which Venezuelans especially benefit, is granted once the application has been denied and does not count in the recognition fees.

The profile of applicants in Spain is completely different from that of their European partners.

While France and Germany, the second and third countries with the most requests, receive mostly Afghans, Syrians, Iraqis and Guineans, at least 80% of applicants in Spain come from Latin American countries, most of which are visa-free.

They are, above all, Venezuelans and Colombians, whose circumstances to leave their country do not always meet the criteria required to receive protection, such as persecution for reasons of race, religion or political opinions or the risk they may run if they return to their homes. countries.

This is precisely one of the battles of the NGOs that work for the defense of refugees, who consider that the situations of violence from which many of the applicants flee do fit the criteria to receive protection.

In the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR) they also warn of the limits that Spain imposes on potential refugees.

"Our profile is different from that of other EU partners, but that is directly related to the visa policy applied by Spain, which is requiring transit visas for Syrians, Yemenis or Palestinians from Lebanon, among many others, who are profiles 100% asylum.

In this way, Spain filters the profiles it wants to receive and excludes people who come from active conflicts ”, warns the general director of the organization.

CEAR welcomes that the files are resolved with more diligence, but warns that speed cannot affect the quality of the procedure and its guarantees.


Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-01-08

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