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Asylum shopping is a term for the practice by some asylum seekers of applying for asylum in several states or seeking to apply in a particular state after traveling through other states. [1] It is used mostly in the context of the European Union and the Schengen Area, but has also been used by the Federal Court of Canada. [2]
Refugees and asylum-seekers are protected by international convention under the principle of non-refoulement, which establishes that a country cannot force someone seeking refuge to return to a country of origin if the person is likely to be persecuted there. The Dublin Convention covering the European Union stipulates that asylum seekers are returned to the country where their entry into the union was first recorded, and where they were first fingerprinted. Another objective of this policy is to prevent asylum seekers in orbit, i.e., to prevent the continual transfer of asylum seekers between countries trying to get others to accept them. [3] [4] One of the objectives of the Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters is to prevent so-called "asylum shopping." [5]
European law, the Dublin Regulation, requires that asylum seekers have their asylum claim registered in the first country they arrive in, [6] and that the decision of the first EU country they apply in is the final decision in all EU countries. However, among some asylum seekers, fingerprinting and registration is vehemently resisted in countries that are not asylum-seeker friendly. For example, some people seek to apply for asylum in Germany and Sweden where a more serious approach to welfare and integration support is taken, [7] and fundamental rights are more likely to be met. [8]
Some asylum seekers reportedly burned their fingers to avoid fingerprint record control in Italy so that they could apply for asylum in a different country. [9] The fingerprint record, known as the Eurodac system, is used to intercept multiple or false asylum claims. [10] In Ireland, two-thirds of asylum seekers whose applications failed were found to be already known to the British border authorities, a third of the time under a different nationality, such as Tanzanians claiming to be fleeing persecution in Somalia. [11]
See also
- Asylum seeker
- Chain migration
- Economic results of migration
- Forum shopping
- Gaming the system
- Illegal immigration
- Non-refoulement
- Roxham Road
References
- ^ Horning, Amber; Jordenö, Sara V.; Savoie, Nicole (2020). "Double-edged risk: Unaccompanied minor refugees (UMRs) in Sweden and their search for safety". Journal of Refugee Studies. 33 (2): 390–415. doi: 10.1093/jrs/feaa034.
- ^ "Asylum Shopping Definition". duhaime.org. Archived from the original on 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
- ^ "Fact Sheet on the Dublin Convention". Archived from the original on 19 March 2005. Retrieved 20 February 2005.
- ^ MOORE, K. (2013). ""Asylum Shopping" in the Neoliberal Social Imaginary". Media, Culture & Society. 35 (3): 348–365. doi: 10.1177/0163443712472090. S2CID 143866492. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- ^ Select Committee on European Union Tenth Report, House of Lords
- ^ European Parliament (26 June 2013). "Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person". Eur-Lex. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
- ^ Yardley, Jim; Pianigiani, Gaia (29 November 2013). "Out of Syria, Into a European Maze". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
- ^ "Human rights court deals blow to EU asylum system". EUobserver. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
- ^ "Dublin regulation leaves asylum seekers with their fingers burnt". The Guardian. London. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ "Q&A: Migrants and asylum in the EU". BBC News. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ Brady, Tom (21 May 2012). "Two-thirds of failed asylum seekers had used false identities". Independent.ie. Retrieved 5 December 2014.