On Thursday, 17 December, the Saeima adopted in the third and final reading amendments to the Asylum Law transposing the provisions of the new European Union (EU) Asylum Procedures Directive.
“The refugee crisis in Europe has ignited a domestic debate on asylum seeker admittance procedures in Latvia. This is a crucial challenge and the new law provides more clarity with regard to the competence of the Saeima in the matter. The law supported by the responsible Saeima committee now states that further Cabinet decisions concerning asylum seekers coming to Latvia will have to be validated by the parliament,” underlines Inese Laizāne, Chairperson of the Saeima Human Rights Committee, which was responsible for the draft law.
The Law makes a clear distinction between the competence of the Saeima and the Cabinet of Ministers to decide on asylum issues. According to the Law, all Cabinet decisions regarding asylum seekers coming to Latvia from other EU member states and third countries, asylum seeker resettlement and relocation plans adopted by the EU in response to the wave of asylum seekers crossing the Union’s external border, or any discussions of such plans will have to be validated by the Saeima. The Cabinet of Ministers will also have to coordinate Latvia’s official position on the matter with the parliament and present the position to the EU services.
The new Law calls for education in the official language to be provided to all minors granted refugee or alternative status. Minors granted subsidiary protection will be subject to the same provisions.
The authors of the amendments note that general education in the official language will benefit quicker integration of asylum seekers into the local community. Moreover, successful integration of children will promote integration of the whole family.
The Law also introduces amendments regarding the rights and obligations of asylum seekers as they pertain to conditions for being admitted and application procedures, detention of asylum seekers, as well as duties of responsible authorities, including examination of applications at border crossing points.
The new Law also reduces the maximum term for which asylum seeker may be detained from seven days to six. Detention is an extraordinary measure, which may be applied by the Border Guard as a last resort.
The need to apply more efficient application procedures in situations when the number of asylum seekers increases faster than expected, has been addressed through the Law by introducing a special application examination procedure. Amendments also provide for sounder safeguards against the abuse of asylum procedures.
According to statistics from the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) 1 440 asylum seekers have applied for international protection in Latvia between 1998, when asylum procedures came into force in Latvia, and 2014.
Out of the total, 65 individuals have been granted refugee status, and 137 individuals have received subsidiary status.
The biggest number of asylum seeker applications was received in 2014 when protection was sought by 364 individuals. Last year three individuals were granted refugee status, and 21 were given subsidiary status. According to the OCMA, the number of asylum applications filed by 31 August of this year reached 201.
Saeima Press Service