Annual Report: International Protection in the Czech Republic in 2009
Main trends, number of seekers, proceedings and European cooperation
Proceedings According to the Dublin Regulation
The Czech Republic may not be the state responsible for assessing all of the applications for international protection lodged in its territory. In some cases, another Member State is responsible for the application. The Dublin Regulation [3] establishes the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a Third Country National. Some of these criteria are, for instance, the principle of family unity, issuance of residence permits or visas or the first asylum application lodged in the territory of the Member States.
Therefore, the Czech Republic may not be responsible for examining a certain number of asylum applications lodged in its territory, but, conversely, may be responsible for examining other asylum applications lodged in other Member States, for instance due to a visa or a residence permit previously issued by the Czech Republic. Moreover, according to the Dublin Regulation, a foreigner detained in the Czech Republic on the grounds of an illegal residence status can be handed back to the Member State where he/she previously lodged an asylum application, as that Member State will be responsible for examining it.
In 2009, the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic received a total of 655 requests from other Member States for taking foreign nationals back into its territory or taking charge of asylum applications. In 449 cases, the responsibility of the Czech Republic to examine the applications proved to be correct and the asylum seekers were handed back into its territory. Only 213 of these asylum seekers, which was some 47 %, were actually handed over to the Czech Republic.
In the same period, the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic sent 269 requests to other Member States to take foreign nationals back or to take charge of their applications. In 249 of these cases, the Member State agreed to receive the persons into its territory. During this period, a total of 238 persons, which was some 97 %, were handed over from the territory of the Czech Republic to a different Member State.
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[3] Council Directive EC No. 343/2003.