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The News section aims to inform users about recent COI publications or upcoming workshops/conferences. EUAA selects information provided in the News section according to its relevance to the COI and asylum fields. EUAA welcomes suggestions to insert a particular news (event, publication).

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02 July 2021

EASO publishes a COI report: Somalia – Actors

Today, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published a Country of Origin Information (COI) report titled - Somalia: Actors (2021). 

After peaking in 2015, with 21 600 applications for international protection, Somali requests for international protection have fluctuated in recent years.  So far in 2021 (January-April), Somalis have lodged over 4 300 IP applications in the EU+, which makes Somalia the seventh top country of origin for applicants in the EU+. By comparison, in 2020 Somalia was the 10th top country of origin. So far in 2021, the EU+ recognition rate for EU-regulated types of protection (at first instance) for Somalis was 59 %, which is in line with that of the previous year. At the end of April 2021, some 10 500 Somali applications were pending at first instance.

This report is part of a series of four EASO COI reports on Somalia that are going to be produced in 2021. The report provides information relevant for international protection status determination for Somali applicants, and in particular for use in EASO's country guidance development on Somalia. The report is meant to provide the background information and mapping of relevant actors/dynamics in Somalia, upon which subsequent reports (notably the Somalia Security Situation, the report on Targeted Profiles and the report on the Key Socio-Economic Indicators) will build.


The report, EASO COI Report: Somalia – Actors is divided into seven macro-chapters. Chapter 1 provides a general overview of the various conflict dynamics in the country (Country Background). Chapters 2 to 6 describe the main country-wide actors in Somalia and in the Somali conflict, namely: the Federal Government of Somalia, al-Shabaab, the clans and militias, AMISOM and AFRICOM, and ISIS-Somalia. For each one of these, the report details strengths, characteristics, justice provision and relative human rights conduct/abuses by various actors. Chapter 7 provides an overview of the the Federal Member State (Jubbaland, South West State, Hirshabelle, Benadir/Mogadishu, Galmudug, Puntland), as well as Somaliland. Each regional sub-chapter includes a brief description of relevant dynamics, territorial control, governance, local armed forces, access to justice, as well as security forces' human rights conduct.

The report was drafted internally by EASO, with one chapter drafted by France (DIDR COI unit of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless People). The report was written in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology. It was peer-reviewed internally, and externally by the Austrian Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum, Country of Origin Information Department (B/III), Africa Desk, as well as by the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD).

The report can be downloaded from the EASO COI Portal.


  • Somalia

25 June 2021

EASO publishes a COI report: Afghanistan - Security situation

​Today, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published a Country of Origin Information (COI) report titled "Afghanistan: Security Situation."

The newly released report provides information on the security situation in Afghanistan, which is relevant for the assessment of international protection status determination, including refugee status and subsidiary protection.

The security situation in Afghanistan remains volatile. After the reduction in violence preceding the signing of the Doha agreement between the US and the Taliban on 29 February 2020, the Taliban resumed targeting government checkpoints and convoys. In terms of territorial control, the situation changes rapidly with the Taliban advancing in a growing number of Afghanistan's provincial districts. At the same time, civilians are continuously threatened by indiscriminate violence and targeted attacks.

Afghanistan: Security Situation Report provides information about relevant security trends in the period between 1 January 2020 and 31 May 2021.The first part of the report provides a general overview of the security situation in the country, including conflict background and actors involved and main security incidents and their impact on the civilian population. The second part holds a geographic subdivision, focusing in greater detail on the security situation in all 34 provinces and Kabul city, and provides a description of the armed actors, recent security incidents as well as data on civilian casualties and conflict-induced displacements.

The report was co-drafted by СOI experts from Belgium, Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, Cedoca (Centre for Documentation and Research); France, Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless persons (OFPRA), Information, Documentation and Research Division (DIDR); Poland, Department of Refugee and Asylum Proceedings, and researchers from EASO COI Sector, in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology. The report was reviewed by experts from Denmark, Danish Immigration Service (DIS); Hungary, National Directorate-General of Origin Information Centre; Norway, Landinfo, the Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre; Slovakia, Migration Office, Department of Documentation and Foreign Cooperation, and ACCORD, the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation.

In 2020, Afghanistan continued to remain the second most important country of origin in EU+. During the year, Afghans lodged 48 578 applications in the EU+ countries, which represented a decrease of 16 % compared to 2019 but constituted a higher number of applications compared to 2018. The recognition rate for Afghans was 53 % in 2020, an increase of 5 % from 2019. At the end of April 2021, around 41 100 Afghans were awaiting a first instance decision, accounting for 11 % of all pending cases in EU+. However, the backlog of Afghan cases pending longer than six months increased after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained above pre-pandemic levels.[1] While in 2020 Greece, Germany, and France were the main receiving countries for applications lodged by Afghan nationals, the top three countries in the period between January and March 2021 were Germany, France, and Romania.[2]

 

 

[1] This overview is based on EASO Early warning and Preparedness System (EPS) data.

[2] Eurostat, Asylum and first-time asylum applicants by citizenship, age and sex – annual aggregated data (rounded) as of 24 June 2021.


  • Afghanistan

23 June 2021

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands translates recently published COI reports on Ethiopia, Nigeria, Russian Federation and Turkey

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands had published translations from Dutch to English of their recent Country of Origin Information reports on: Ethiopia (February 2021), Nigeria (March 2021), Turkey (March 2021) and the Russian Federation (April 2021).

The reports can be found at the following links:

Country of origin information report – Ethiopia (covering the reporting period from July 2018 up to and including January 2021)
Country of origin information report – Nigeria (covering the reporting period from June 2018 to March 2021)
Country of origin information report – Russian Federation (covering the reporting period from December 2018 up to and including March 2021)
Country of origin information report – Turkey (covering the reporting period from October 2019 through 18 February 2021)

  • Ethiopia
  • Nigeria
  • Russian Federation
  • Turkey

10 June 2021

EASO publishes a COI report: Syria – Situation of returnees from abroad

​Today, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published a Country of Origin Information (COI) report titled "Syria: Situation of returnees from abroad".

This report is part of a series of Syria COI reports produced in 2021. The reports provide information relevant for international protection status determination for Syrian applicants, and in particular for use in updating EASO's country guidance development on Syria.

In both January and February 2021, Syrians lodged more than 10 000 applications for international protection in the EU+.[1] While these were the highest numbers since 2016, they included close to 5 000 repeated applications (in the same reporting country) in both months, which was considerably higher than earlier. Over the last six months (September 2020 – February 2021), total applications by Syrians almost doubled compared to the previous six-month period. Syrian applications pending at first instance have increased by 38 % over the last six months, to over 50 400 at the end of February 2021. Over this period, the EU+ recognition rate for Syrians was 86 % (relatively stable compared to the preceding six months).

The report, EASO COI Report: Syria – Situation of returnees from abroad, focuses on a number of topics relating to the issue of return of Syrians from Europe and Syria's neighbouring countries (Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan) to government-held Syria, including the consequences of having exited Syria illegally and having applied for asylum abroad, the return procedures for Syrian citizens who live outside Syria, potential obstacles to return, and possible treatment upon return in government-held Syria. The report provides information primarily on recent trends, with updated information on 2020 and 2021 where available.

The report was drafted by the Country of Origin Information (COI) Unit of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs[2], in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology, and was reviewed by Denmark, Danish Immigration Service (DIS), Hungary, National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing Documentation Centre and the EASO COI Sector.



[1] This overview is based on EASO Early warning and Preparedness System (EPS) data. Data for February 2021 were missing for two EU+ countries and January data for one country.

[2] In Dutch known as Afdeling Ambtsberichten (AB). 


cover_Syria_report_returnees_from_abroad.jpg


  • Syrian Arab Republic

04 June 2021

EASO publishes a COI report: Nigeria – security situation

​Today, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published a Country of Origin Information (COI) report titled Nigeria: security situation.

After the peak of some 47 000 applications for international protection in 2016, Nigerians have sought asylum in the EU+ less frequently: around 23 000 in 2018-2019 and just above 13 000 in 2020. So far in 2021 (January-March), Nigerians lodged almost 3 700 applications in the EU+. Since 2018, there has been a gradual increase in the share of repeated applications in the same reporting country. In the first three months of 2021, more than each third Nigerian application in the EU+ was lodged repeatedly. In the last six months (October 2020 – March 2021), the number of first instance decisions increased by about a quarter compared to the preceding six months. In the same period, the EU+ recognition rate for Nigerians was 12 %, stable compared to the preceding half a year. At the end of March 2021, some 14 400 Nigerian applications were pending at first instance. More than two thirds of them were awaiting a decision for longer than six months.

This report is part of a series of two COI reports on Nigeria produced in 2021. The reports provide information relevant for international protection status determination for Nigerian applicants, and in particular for use in updating EASO's country guidance development on Nigeria.

The first report in EASO's 2021 production on Nigeria is EASO COI Report: Nigeria: Trafficking in Human Beings, was published in April 2021.

The second report, EASO COI Report: Nigeria – Security situation, is an update and expansion of the EASO COI report Nigeria Security situation 2018. The report is divided into two parts. The first part presents an overview of the armed conflicts in Nigeria, and information on the main actors in the conflict, their organisation structures, aims and targets. It goes on to describe the security trends in different parts of Nigeria during 2020 and the first four months of 2021, with a focus on the nature of the violence and impact on civilians. The chapter also discusses the ability of the Nigerian federal state to secure law and order and ends with a description of issues of displacement and return.

The second part provides a description of the security situation of all 37 states of Nigeria. Each chapter includes a brief description of the state, background conflict dynamics and armed actors present in the area, recent security trends, including information on security incidents and fatalities, security trends, armed confrontations, the impact on the population such as civilian infrastructure and information on displacement and return.

The report was co-drafted by Stephanie Huber, Founder and Director of the Asylum Research Centre (ARC), and EASO's COI Sector, in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology. The report was reviewed by The Netherlands, Ministry of Justice and Security, Office for Country Information and Language Analysis, by Austria, Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum, Country of Origin Information Department (B/III), Africa Desk, and by the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD), together with EASO.

 

The report can be downloaded from the EASO COI Portal.


  • Nigeria