Northern, Western, Central and Southern Europe

Response in 2015

The operational context in Europe changed dramatically for UNHCR during 2015. Persecution, conflict and poverty forced more than 1 million people to flee to Europe by sea. 

The three main counties of entry were Greece (84 per cent), followed by Italy (15 per cent) and Spain (1 per cent). It is estimated that nearly half of those crossing the Mediterranean in 2015 were Syrian (498,370; 48 prer cent), followed by Afghans (210,338; 20 per cent) and Iraqis (89,395; 9 per cent).

In response to this critical situation, UNHCR launched an emergency response, to support and complement government efforts. Aid and more than 600 emergency staff were deployed to 20 different locations to provide life-saving assistance and protection, and advocating for human rights and access to asylum, particularly for refugees with specific needs.

In cooperation with the European Commission, EASO and FRONTEX, UNHCR played a catalytic role in inspiring policy initiatives and promoting access to protection in Europe, notably through safe alternative legal pathways. 

UNHCR also continued its efforts to address and prevent statelessness in Europe. In 2015, Italy acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 

Operations 

The situation of refugees and migrants in Europe reached a critical point in 2015. UNHCR continued to cooperate with relevant government counterparts, European Union institutions and agencies, international partners, non-governmental organizations, volunteer groups and local communities to respond to the situation, focusing on: providing emergency and life-saving assistance; strengthening coordination structures; conducting protection monitoring, critical incident reporting and advocacy; providing appropriate advisory, technical and functional support to government authorities; and capacity building, particularly in terms of emergency response.

The Austrian and German asylum systems were seriously challenged by the continued sharp increase in numbers of asylum-seekers. In Germany UNHCR continuously advocated for preserving the open admission policy.  In Austria, UNHCR launched a training handbook for interpreters assisting the asylum application process and organized training for more than 110 officials and decision makers of the first instance authority, as well as judges of various courts involved in asylum cases. 

In the Baltic States access to territory and asylum was further improved through border monitoring and capacity building of border guards. As the Baltic States agreed to participate in the EU resettlement scheme, UNHCR supported government efforts to develop comprehensive integration programs by providing technical refugee status determination support, launching a study on refugee integration opportunities and challenges in Latvia, and through public advocacy on the importance of establishing refugee integration programs. UNHCR further strengthened its presence in the region through the establishment of a Liaison Office in Estonia.

In Belgium, in the context of the transposition of recast of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) instruments, UNHCR analysed several draft legislations and met with different government counterparts to initiate a dialogue on the subject. 

In Central Europe, UNHCR, promptly stepped up its operational presence,  established 24/7 border monitoring and provided support to the Government and civil society organizations to respond effectively to the most urgent humanitarian and protection needs of  refugees and migrants transiting through Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia.  More than 800,000 people passed through these countries and many required urgent interventions and support from UNHCR, including to restore family unity and to meet their basic needs.  In parallel, UNHCR worked with governments to strengthen asylum systems and advocated for alternatives to detention.

In Cyprus important progress was achieved with respect to naturalization; more refugees acquired citizenship in 2014 and 2015 than the previous five years combined. 

Positive results were achieved in expanding resettlement to Finland, Iceland and Norway. The quality of status determination procedures was enhanced through: increased convention refugee recognition rates in Finland; improvement of RSD processes in Iceland; and in Lithuania by implementing quality assurance tools, which supported decision-making and led to higher refugee recognition rates. 

In Italy UNHCR continued to advocate for protection-sensitive access to territory; search and rescue capacity as a joint undertaking by the EU; assistance with reception; and increased operational support to distribution and relocation of asylum-seekers and refugees. UNHCR prioritized assistance to persons of concern with specific needs. The reception system for unaccompanied and separated children was reformed, and reception capacity was increased. 

In Malta important progress has been achieved with respect to naturalization: In 2014 and 2015 more refugees have acquired citizenship than in the previous five years combined.

In Luxembourg UNHCR significantly influenced the adoption of an overall favourable law on reception conditions.

In the United Kingdom UNHCR continued collaborating with the Government to improve the quality of refugee status determination. Supported by partners, UNHCR provided the authorities with capacity development training to enable them to better identify victims of SGBV during screening and registration and refer them to available services. 

In Spain, asylum space in the enclaves was strengthened through UNHCR presence and the opening of government asylum offices in Melilla. 

In response to the exceptionally high number of unaccompanied and separated children in Sweden and Norway, UNHCR organized a regional seminar on child’s right provide guidance to child protection actors.

In France UNHCR continued its engagement with the authorities to improve reception conditions and humanitarian assistance, particularly in Calais and surrounding areas, and worked to increase public awareness of and sensitization for refugee matters. The Office also contributed to the reform of the asylum law, which was introduced in mid-2015.