Asylum

Asylum and refugee issues, Asylum Policy in the European Union, Information on Countries of Origin, Resettlement 

Information on Countries of Origin

• provides a general description of the situation in a specific country of origin with respect to compliance with human rights and political and civil rights and freedoms 
• makes it possible to verify certain facts provided by individual applicants for international protection, which are essential for assessing all of the relevant facts pursuant to the Asylum Act 
• serves as one of supporting materials for issuing a decision on granting international protection

The information on countries of origin used during asylum proceedings in the Czech Republic are obtained from a wide range of information sources – both domestic as well as foreign, governmental, non-governmental, academic and international, with primary emphasis placed on accuracy, objectivity and currentness. The information obtained is always verified with multiple resources of various types (domestic vs. foreign, governmental vs. non-governmental vs. international).

For the most part, the resources are available to the public on the Internet; accessible through the European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOINET) and REFWORLD databases maintained by the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD) the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) respectively. Further information is obtained from various governmental bodies of the Czech Republic, primarily the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, within the framework of cooperation with partner offices and organisations abroad and at meetings of the European Union bodies.

The most used sources addressing issues pertaining to compliance with human, political and civil rights and freedoms include Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and Annual Report on International Religious Freedom which are published by the United States Department of State; Countries of Origin Information Service Reports prepared by the United Kingdom Home Office; documents published by United Nations, in particularly by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); and a number non-governmental organisations, e.g. Amnesty International, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group.

Information from national (the Czech Press Agency) and international media (BBC, CNN and other) and various professional periodicals and literature are also used to a high degree.

Department for Asylum and Migration Policy, 23rd November 2009

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