Adequate support during the interview
The BAMF does not have specialised units dealing with vulnerable groups. According to the BAMF, all case workers complete the EUAA training module on ‘Interviewing Vulnerable Persons’.[1] If an applicant or a Federal State authority submits information to the BAMF that indicates vulnerability (such as medical records or information about specific physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments), such information is transferred to the case worker in charge who can decide to take measures such as allocate more time for the interview, appoint an interpreter of a specific gender or allow the person to bring a trusted person of their choice to the interview.[2]
For specific groups of vulnerable persons, the BAMF employs ‘special officers’ (Sonderbeauftragte) responsible for interviews and decisions on claims by applicants with special needs. Special officers also advise their colleagues in dealing with vulnerable applicants and are contact persons for specialised counselling services and psycho-social centres.[3] Staff members who become special officers must complete a training module for the specialisation they want to achieve. In addition, they follow the EASO training modules for their specialisation.[4] Training covers both the identification and in the treatment of vulnerable persons.[5] According to the BAMF, continuous training is offered for specific topics in the realm of the special officers’ responsibilities.[6] The BAMF guidelines stipulate that the following cases shall be handled in a particularly sensitive manner and, if necessary, by specially-trained decision-makers:[7]
- Unaccompanied children;
- Victims of gender-specific prosecution;
- Victims of human trafficking; and
- Victims of torture and traumatised asylum seekers.
As of June 2023, a total of 1,267 BAMF had one or more roles as special officers. This corresponds to roughly a third of full-time equivalent positions allocated to the first instance procedure (see Number of staff and nature of the first instance authority). The distribution among areas of responsibilities was the following: Unaccompanied children (410), victims of gender-specific persecution (312) traumatised persons and victims of torture (291), victims of trafficking (254).[8]
Specially trained case officers may be included at all times of the asylum procedure, or take over, also prior to the interview, if vulnerabilitites are known. For example, if it becomes evident during the interview that an asylum seeker belongs to one of these groups, the officer conducting the interview is obliged to consult a special officer, in addition to notifying the reception centre if necessary and authorised by the applicant.[9] A note on how the officers are planning to proceed must be added by the special officer to the file, particularly if the special officer takes over the case as a result of their consultation. According to information provided by the government, there is an obligation in cases of unaccompanied minors for special officers to take over responsibility for the asylum procedures. In other cases of other vulnerable groups, the specially trained case officer must be consulted and there are two options for further procedures: either the special officer adopts an advisory role or they take over responsibility for the procedure.[10] However, the BAMF does not record the number of cases in which special officers are consulted or in which procedures are handed over to special officers.[11]
Lawyers have reported that the introduction of special officers has led to some improvement in the handling of ‘sensitive’ cases. The special officers receive special training in the area of LGBTIQ, they conduct interviews upon consultation by other BAMF officers and serve as multipliers for their colleagues.[12]However, there have also been examples of cases in which indications of trauma and even explicit references to torture did not lead to special officers being consulted.[13] It has further been criticised that there are shorcomings in the effective implementation of procedural guarantees for LGBTIQ+ persons, which increases the risk of false decisions.[14] There is no individual right to have a special officer handling a person’s case, except for unaccompanied minors for whom this is mandatory. But if evidence suggests that the person is vulnerable or if the person claims to have certain vulnerabilities, the interviewer is required to involve a special officer in the procedure, e.g. as consultant.[15] However, the Administrative Court of Berlin ruled that if special vulnerabilities have been detected, the absence of a special officer in the asylum procedure constitutes a violation of procedural rights of vulnerable asylum seekers.[16]
Exemption from special procedures
The German Asylum Act exempts neither unaccompanied children nor persons with special procedural guarantees from the airport procedure, despite an express obligation under the recast APD to provide for such exemptions under certain conditions.[17] It also makes no reference to ‘adequate support’ which should be provided to those requiring special procedural guarantees.[18]
While there is no explicit exemption in the law, in practice, at least in 2022, it seems that recognised unaccompanied minors are not subjected to airport procedures.[19] It seems that the Federal Police contacts the youth welfare office (Jugendamt) in cases involving unaccompanied minors. Officials of the youth welfare office come to the airport facility to conduct an age assessment and unaccompanied minors are usually allowed entry into the territory for the purpose of the asylum procedure.[20] That said, the de facto detention facility at Frankfurt/Main Airport contains dedicated rooms for unaccompanied boys and girls.[21]
In any case, the exemption from the airport procedure does not apply to children who arrive at the airport together with their parents.[22] In 2022, 72 accompanied minors were subjected to the airport procedure, representing 20.7% of all applicants in such procedures.[23] This is higher than in 2021and 2020, where there were respectively 26 and 13 minors in the airport procedure, representing around 13% of all applicants in 2021 and 9% in 2020.[24]
The BAMF has reported that, where a vulnerability has been identified prior to the application process (e.g., according to the report of the Federal Police, through information gathered by the State or by a legal representative) this will be taken into consideration.[25] This includes appointing a specialised caseworker and/or an interpreter of a specific gender; as well as procedural guarantees during interviews such as longer breaks. Moreover, the BAMF stated that vulnerable persons receive the procedural guarantees to which they are entitled from the Federal state (e.g. medical care, possible psychological care, adequate accommodation and meals etc.). In practice, however, the airport procedure is also applied to other vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, persons with acute medical conditions and victims of rape or other forms of violence. Pro Asyl reports that vulnerabilities are not identified systemically by the authorities and instead depends on the availability of NGOs in the airport premises.[26] It has also been reported that the BAMF conducts interviews with pregnant women lasting several hours in the airport facilities.[27]
[1] BAMF, Die Identifizierung vulnerabler Personen im Asylverfahren. Umsetzung in der Praxis des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge, June 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Z7JHCU, 16.
[2] BAMF, Die Identifizierung vulnerabler Personen im Asylverfahren. Umsetzung in der Praxis des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge, June 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Z7JHCU, 19.
[3] Information provided by the BAMF, 9 March 2023.
[4] BAMF, Die Identifizierung vulnerabler Personen im Asylverfahren. Umsetzung in der Praxis des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge, June 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Z7JHCU, 16.
[5] BAMF, Die Identifizierung vulnerabler Personen im Asylverfahren. Umsetzung in der Praxis des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge, June 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Z7JHCU, 16.
[6] Information provided by the BAMF, 9 March 2023.
[7] BAMF, DA-Asyl (Dienstanweisung Asylverfahren) – Belehrungen, 2010, 139.
[8] The government notes that the figures cannot be added since some officers may have qualified in more than one area; Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/7503, 28 June 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Sb12cF, 2-4.
[9] BAMF, Die Identifizierung vulnerabler Personen im Asylverfahren. Umsetzung in der Praxis des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge, June 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Z7JHCU, 20.
[10] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 19/32684, 15 October 2021, available IN German at: https://bit.ly/485CrMW, 19-22.
[11] BAMF, response to information request, e-mail from ‘Zentrale Ansprechstelle’ (central contact point), 28 August 2019.
[12] BAMF, DA-Asyl (Dienstanweisung Asylverfahren) – Ärztliche Bescheinigungen, 01. January 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Ht4JVw, 404 (pdf).
[13] See e.g., Administrative Court Berlin, Decision 31 K 324/20 A, 30 March 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3vQxKZh.
[14] Pia Storf, Queerness im Asylverfahren, djBZ Vol.1, 2023, 17-19, restricted availability at: https://bit.ly/3I2T3JS.
[15] BAMF, DA-Asyl (Dienstanweisung Asylverfahren) – Ärztliche Bescheinigungen, 01. January 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Ht4JVw, 406 (pdf).
[16] Ibid.
[17] Articles 25(6)(b) and 24(3) recast APD.
[18] Article 24(3) recast APD.
[19] Federal Government, Response to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/5709, 17 February 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3K3w3MX, 34.
[20] Information provided by an attorney-at-law, 31 August 2020.
[21] ECRE, Airport procedures in Germany Gaps in quality and compliance with guarantees, April 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2QgOmAH.
[22] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 19/18498, 2 April 2020, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3RPHZFG, 44.
[23] Federal Government, Response to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/5709, 17 February 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3K3w3MX, 34.
[24] Federal Government, Response to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/2309, 17 June 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3ni6gYk, 39; 19/20377, 23 July 2020, available in German at: https://bit.ly/4aqHp8L, 4; 19/28109, 20 March 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3LJmTGw, 37.
[25] Information provided by the BAMF, 11 September 2020.
[26] Pro Asyl, Abgelehnt im Niemandsland, June 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3SfTzc7, 27.
[27] Ibid.