Author
Detention should be as short as possible,[1] and cannot exceed 6 months for adults,[2] and 3 months for children over the age of 14.[3] Prior to November 2017, these maximum time limits were 4 months and 2 months respectively. There is also a possibility to exceptionally extend these periods for up to 18 months, e.g. when the identity or citizenship cannot be verified or when the foreigner resisted against police force in the context of deportation.[4] As regards asylum seekers, detention should generally not last longer than 4 weeks following the final decision on the application.[5]
Figures on the average duration of detention of asylum seekers in general are not available. In 2019, however, the average time of a person kept in detention centre was 28.9 days.[6] This average time increased significantly in 2020, when asylum seekers who were detained on the ground of Article 76 (2) (1) FPG (i.e. the person has violated a travel ban) were detained for 83.3 days.[7] As of September 2023, the average time overall was 29 days (2022: 32.8 days), while specific data on the average detention time of asylum seekers is not available.[8]
As regards, asylum seekers falling under the Dublin procedure, they are often detained immediately after lodging their application and may be kept in detention until they are transferred to the responsible Member State. In Dublin cases, detention may last for some weeks, as suspensive effect of the appeal is hardly ever granted and the transfer can be affected while their appeal is still pending.[9]
At the start of 2023, applicants with the prospect of being returned to Italy via Dublin directive were kept in detention as the BFA assumed that Italy would change its policy of not taking back Dublin returnees. At the end of 2023, possible Dublin returnees to Italy were released after a short time as Italy has not changed its policy.[10]
[1] Article 80(1) FPG.
[2] Article 80(2)(2) FPG.
[3] Article 80(2)(1) FPG.
[4] Article 80(4) FPG.
[5] Article 80(5) FPG.
[6] Ministry of Interior, Answer to a parliamentary request 4023/AB XXVI GP, 16 August 2019, available in German at: https://bit.ly/39jKNlW.
[7] Ministry of Interior, Answer to a parliamentary request, 4901/AB XXVII. GP, 12 March 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2P4ioeu
[8] Ministry of Interior, answer to parliamentary request 13976/AB XXVII. GP, 28 April 2023, available in German at https://bit.ly/425y8xW; Ministry of Interior, Answer to parliamentary request 15846/AB, XXVII. GP, 21 November 2023, available in German at: https://shorturl.at/Ng89b.
[9] Report from NGOs to asylkoordination österreich.
[10] Reports from Diakonie Flüchtlingsdienst and BBU GmbH to asylkoordination österreich, December 2023.