EMN Conference, The Hague, 24 April 2013 CEAS, A JUDICIAL REALITY OR ACTUAL PRACTICE? POLAND AND THE QUALIFICATION DIRECTIVE EMN Conference, The Hague, 24 April 2013

International protection: evolution of national legislation Early 90. and first asylum applications in Poland The use of temporary protection before the adoption of the EU acquis Act of 13th June 2003 on granting protection to foreigners within the territory of the Republic of Poland principles, conditions and procedures for granting protection to foreigners within the territory of the Republic of Poland; authorities competent in the asylum matters; modified by several Amendments in accordance with i.a. the Qualification Directive

Forms of international protection Non-EU harmonised protection statuses EU harmonised protection statuses In ad-hoc situations temporary protection before the adoption of the EU acquis In permanent use asylum and tolerated stay medical grounds family reasons Illegally staying unaccompanied minors stateless tolerated stay/suspension of removal witnesses to criminal proceedings victims of special offences „national interest” victims of environmental disasters Refugee status Subsidiary protection Temporary protection single refugee procedure Protection statuses granted to victims of human trafficking

International protection: evolution of national legislation Amendments to the national law: Act of 13 June 2003 on granting protection to foreigners within the territory of Poland „Polish migration policy – current situation and further actions” New Act on Foreigners (final stage of preparations) Draft scenarios in case of i.a. massive inflow of foreigners seeking international protection in Poland

The influence of the Qualification Directives Changes in the Act of 13 June 2003 on granting protection to asylum seekers within the territory of Poland : introduction of a subsidiary protection (result: decrease in number of humanitarian statuses granted – permits for tolerated stay) clarify the rules on procedure for granting refugee status to streamline the procedure strenghtening of the non-refoulment principle introduction of relocation and ressetlement focus on benefits granted international prtection status (i.a. work, integration)

The influence of the Qualification Directives New strategic document „Polish migration policy – current situation and further actions”: introduction of the resettlement and relocation the conditions to be granted a permit for tolerated stay shall be clearly divided due to reasons linked with the situation in the country of provision (in cases of international protection) and the "humanitarian" protection (linked only to the issues concerning the right to family life, privacy, etc.) implementation of the pre-integration actions for foreigners awaiting a decision on international protection introduction of the institution mentor / assistant for persons covered by the programs of integration and professional activation of refugees

General trends in international protection The number of applications starts to grow again The number of first applications submitted in 2012 and 2013 (by month) Source: Office for Foreigners (System „POBYT”)

General trends in international protection Main determinants of the refugee procedure in Poland Homogenous group of migrants (Caucasus region) Families Documented applicants Influx mainly through one border crossing point Main countries of origin of asylum aplicants are: Russia (of Chechens nationality) Georgia Armenia Ukraine and Belarus Source: Office for Foreigners (System „POBYT”)

International protection in Poland year Total number of persons who were granted protection on the territory of Poland Number of persons who were granted one of the forms of protection harmonised with the EU law on the territory of Poland Number of persons who were granted one of the national forms of protection on the territory of Poland refugee status subsidiary protection temporary protection asylum permit for tolerated stay under refugee procedure permit for tolerated stay under expulsion procedure other circumstances of granting permit for tolerated stay* 2008 2957 (100%) 193 (7%) 1077 (36%) 1527 (52%) 46 (2%) 114 (4%) 2009 2781 (100%) 133 (5%) 2377 (85%) 82 (3%) 68 (2%) 111 (4%) 2010 677 (100%) 84 (12%) 229 (34%) 210 (31%) 110 (16%) 44 (6%) 2011 765 (100%) 157 (21%) 207 (27%) 211 (28%) 154 (20%) 36 (5%) 2012 666 (100%) 106 (16%) 164 (25%) 319 (48%) 67 (10%) 10 (2%) TOTAL 17581 1988 4054 10065 842 622 * Circumstances in which permits for tolerated stay are issued, if the decision on expulsion was unenforceable for reasons beyond the control of the authority in charge of enforcing decision on expulsion and beyond the control of a foreigner; court issued a judgment on the inadmissibility of a foreigner’s extradition; the Minister of Justice issued a decision on refusal to extradite a foreigner. Source: Office for Foreigners (System „POBYT”)

General trends in international protection Poland vs other EU countries with a total number of decision on refugee status granted Source: EUROSTAT Source: EUROSTAT

Refugee status and the decision-making process  year Country of origin: Russia Country of origin: Georgia Country of origin: Belarus Min. EU Max. EU Poland 2008 1,78% 25,32% 3,41% 6,02% 12,16% 0% 7,14% 63,64% 37,50% 2009 2,19% 30,00% 1,56% 8,05% 7,69% 44,44% 2010 1,40% 45,16% 0,55% 1,69% 50,00% 2011 3,82% 1,25% 10,00% 1,96% 57,14% 2012 3,46% 75,00% 0,85% 20,00% 2,04% 60,00% 55,56% Source: Office for Foreigners (System „POBYT”) and EUROSTAT database

Up-to-date practice Due to geographical matters the number of foreigners applying for international protection differs between the EU countries Diversity of reception conditions (social policy and integration programmes) and the decision-process practice (type of protection statuses granted) have also an important impact in the process of CEAS creation Paramount of EU harmonised protection statuses granted in majority of EU countries (over non-EU harmonised statuses)

Areas of necessary changes (UNHCR, ECRE) Conditions for granting international protection should be harmonised at a higher level actors of protection; internal protection Persons fleeing persecution and other forms of serious harm should have access to an equivalent level of rights Refugee status should only end when all reasons for persecution have ceased Applicants should enjoy the benefit of the doubt

Qualification Directive vs CEAS objectives EU common solidarity principle, exchange of information regarding countries of origin, trainings of asylum officials as well as the Asylum Support Teams are expected to strenghten the system European Asylum Support Office shall promote the need to use the same eligibility criteria for international protection (important role of the EAC curiculum) Further harmonisation is needed (2015 as a reference year)

Thank you for your attention!! EMN National Contact Point to Poland Joanna Sosnowska [esm@msw.gov.pl; www.emn.gov.pl]