Recommendation 1309 (1996) on the Training of Officials Receiving Asylum-Seekers at Border Points

i.organise exchanges of experience and information between the member states, with the participation of the appropriate international governmental and non-governmental organisations, on the training of officials who first come into contact with asylum-seekers, as well as those involved in the determination of refugee status;

ii.instruct the appropriate committee to develop, in consultation with the relevant international governmental and non-governmental organisations, guidelines to be addressed to the member states for the training and guidance of officials who first come into contact with asylum-seekers, with a view to developing the officials' knowledge and skills in the following areas in particular:

a.the basics of asylum law, especially the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, incorporating the principle of non-refoulement, its 1967 Protocol, and the European Convention on Human Rights, notably with regard to the application of Article 3;

b.the limitations under national and international law on the use of detention, and the guidelines of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on this subject;

c.the asylum procedures in the member state concerned in particular to whom asylum applications should be referred and whom the asylum-seeker can call for assistance;

d.procedures to ensure that, if asylum-seekers are sent to a "safe third country", that state will guarantee that they will actually enter fair asylum procedures there;

e.what constitutes a request for asylum as opposed to the entry requests of other non-nationals;

f.the types of pressure that refugees are under;

g.the human rights' situation in the countries which generate the greatest numbers of asylum-seekers;

h.the relevant databases providing information on the country of origin;

i.special needs, such as those of women and unaccompanied minors;

j.the correct choice and use of interpreters;

k.interview techniques;

l.intercultural awareness;

m.interpersonal relations;

iii.promote the implementation of initial and in-service training programmes for these officials at the national level;

iv.contribute to the training of officials who first come into contact with asylum-seekers and those involved in refugee status determination by providing expertise and materials on the subject of the European Convention on Human Rights in relation to the protection of refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons;

v.draw the attention of the governments of the member states to the adverse effects of carrier liability legislation for the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers and to the need to institute training for any carrier personnel required to perform, at the point of embarkation, functions normally carried out by border police or immigration officers at the port of entry.