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Friday 6, November 2009
Brasov, 6 November 2009 – Judges and asylum officers in Romania are striving for a humanitarian and compassionate approach towards the asylum seekers they deal with in their profession. A UNHCR project called Quality Initiative (QI) is meant to help them achieve exactly that through a series of seminars.
Within the QI Project, a seminar was organized in Brasov for a total of 21 judges from all regions of Romania, as well as eligibility officers from the Directorate of Asylum and Integration. Its purpose was to support efforts made by UNHCR and the Romanian authorities to improve the legal and procedural framework concerning asylum-seekers and refugees.
“The seminar was an accomplishment”, said the Quality Initiative Regional Evaluator, Michael Ross. In his view, this can be assessed through three elements. First, the high level of attendance, where every subject on the agenda was extensively discussed.
Second, the variety of themes and presentations, starting with the European Court of Justice’s role in the international protection of refugees, the Dublin procedure case law, human rights instruments and gender and age based persecution analysis, the judges’ checklist and the standard of proof in the asylum procedure.
Third a new Refugee Status Determination (RSD) decision template was introduced to participants by National Evaluator, Florentina Covaliu and an expert from the Directorate for Asylum and Integration. Designed by UNHCR in collaboration with the Romanian Immigration Office for first instance adjudicators, it outlines several steps that should be followed for reasoning good decisions, while also emphasizing the Romanian Immigration Office’s commitment to quality.
According to the Regional Evaluator, the template was “the highlight of the seminar”. It was positively received by the attending Romanian judges, who also provided some interesting inputs.
Among others, the topic of interpreting and applying Article 15 of the Qualification Directive on subsidiary protection and secondary or subsequent claims came up with adjudicators. This was an issue because, as one of the adjudicators stated, “we need to have a humanitarian and compassionate approach towards the persons that appear before us, in addition to the required legal approach”.
With this seminar, UNHCR continues to place emphasis on the training of adjudicators, as their work involves examination of evidence and often subjective details. Thus, they require an understanding of circumstances prevalent in various countries of origin, as well as a compassionate approach towards the persons who appear before them.
The UNHCR Representative in Romania, Machiel Salomons, appreciated the seminar as: “yet another opportunity for judges to get accustomed with the procedural modalities associated with asylum and refugee law. The QI Project implemented in Romania is registering remarkable success and could very well be replicated in other parts of Central Europe.”
The Quality Initiative Project is a first phase of activities designed to improve the quality of asylum decision-making and establish assessment mechanisms.
April 2010 will mean the beginning of the FDQ Project: Further Developing Asylum Quality in the EU, which will be built on the Quality Initiative Project. Its aim is to ensure that the quality mechanisms in place in each country are fully functional and independent, allowing for future support from UNHCR, as and when required.
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