Case management, identity controls and screening on national security and 1F exclusion:A comparative study on Syrian asylum seekers in five European countries

Abstract

This report discusses how five European countries (Belgium, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden) have organized the identification, registration and decision-making in relation to asylum applications made by Syrian nationals, and the screening of Syrian nationals with regard to possible national security and 1F exclusion aspects, in the period 2014-2017. For the study, interviews have been conducted with representatives of immigration authorities and aliens police agencies, as well as representatives of intelligence and security services and representatives of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). In addition, the research entailed a review of available academic literature, relevant rules and regulations and available formal and informal policy documents. The armed conflict in Syria that erupted in 2011 has produced a vast number of forced migrants and is one of the driving factors behind the high influx of asylum seekers in Europe since 2014. The high influx impacted all countries studied in the context of this research, albeit in different degrees. The high influx came as a surprise to all of the focus countries, because of its suddenness and its magnitude. The challenges that bureaucracies were confronted with were manifold. This report presents an overview of these challenges and responses to these challenges in the five focus countries, on three main themes: organisational capacity and management; establishment of identity and decision-making; and screening on national security and 1F exclusion. The report ends with a number of conclusions, reflections and recommendations that follow from the findings