Closing Seminar of the Pilot Project 7 on Asylum and International Protection

Description

The 3rd Seminar of Pilot Project 7, that took place in Berlin on 20-22 of April 2016,  gathered 46 participants, including representatives of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Luxemburg, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine, as well as the three PP7 experts, national trainers from Germany, Sweden and Norway, EASO, UNHCR, ECRE and ICMPD. The thematic focus of the event was on exclusion, internal protection alternative, interview techniques and vulnerable groups. The event combined presentations on behalf of experts with interactive breakout sessions, including the discussion of concrete asylum cases on behalf of participants.

The first session on exclusion clauses entailed a detailed reasoning behind cessation of or exclusion from refugee status, an introduction into the concept of ‘serious non-political crimes’ and some practical advice for decision makers (e.g. useful indicators and profiles that can be applied). Participants were then divided into parallel working groups according to their preferred areas of interest. Session 2 focused on interview techniques, which may in fact represent the biggest common challenge in RSD procedures. After a general introduction, participants were introduced to different methods to identify and interview vulnerable groups, an obligation required by the EU’s Qualifications Directive, as well as the issue of Internal Protection Alternative (IPA). After a short introduction into the jurisprudence on exclusion, participants were again divided into working groups dealing with concrete asylum cases oo exclusion and IPA.

On the final day, EASO presented the Practical Tool for identification of persons with special needs (IPSN Tool), while ECRE introduced the EDAL database on asylum case law. Sweden then presented the draft version of the so-called PP7 Guidelines. During the closing session, all states provided with their utmost positive feedback on this particular event and the Pilot Project 7 as a whole.