Asylum seekers are again returned to Hungary

last update: September 2016

In March 2016, the Migration Court stopped all forced returns of asylum seekers from Sweden to Hungary under the Dublin regulations. But in July, the higher Migration Court has decided to allow returns to Hungary again. The family that was treated in the case could stay in Sweden, however, as they have two small children and as there was a big risk that the family would have to stay in a deportation center in Hungary for a long time.

This means that in general, asylum seekers that have finger prints in Hungary will be returned there. But it means also that it could be worth to appeal against deportation decision, especially if small children are involved. We recommend you to get in touch with a local asylum group or a lawyer to receive legal assistance.

DublinII in Sweden

The main rule of the Dublin II Regulation is that your application for asylum should be tried in the first country you come to. If you have left your fingerprints in Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, ESTLAND; Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, England, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Norway or Iceland you are sent back there. The exception is Greece. Sweden has decided not to send asylum-seekers back to Greece until the Swedish Migration Supreme Court takes a decision.

Everyone who applies for asylum have to leave there fingerprints. The fingerprints are saved in a database called Eurodac. When you apply for asylum the Migration Office checks in Eurodac if you have left your fingerprints in any other European country. Everyone who are 14 years  old or more must leave their fingerprints. The Migration Office has a new machine that can read damaged fingerprints. This means that the machine can read fingerprints even if they have been burnt or filed  down. When the responsible Dublin-country decides to take back an asylum seeker it is called an accept. When the accept has come Sweden must send back the person to the other country in six months. If it takes longer time Sweden has to try the case, this if Sweden does not ask for more time from the other country. 

You are called to a meeting with the Migration office when they decide to send you to the other Dublin country. After the first meeting  you can get some time, usually a week, to give in more documents like certificates from doctors, psychologists and reports on the situation for asylum-seekers in the other Dublin country. It is good to have as much information you can to the first meeting with the Migration Office.

If you don´t want to be sent back you can appeal the decision in Swedish or in your own language to the Court of Migration. You have no right to attorney/lawyer.  You can be sent back during the time you wait for your appeal to be treated.

If the asylum-seeker cannot be sent back because of she or he is hiding the responsibility is moved to Sweden 18 months after the other countries accept. If you leave the Dublin II area for more than 3 months you can apply for asylum again in any Dublin country. You have to prove with real documents that you have been outside of the Dublin area. The demands on proves are very high.