Author
During detention in public custody centres, asylum seekers have all the rights set out in the Asylum Act, except for those concerning the right to access employment, right to accommodation in the Regional Centres and reimbursement for travel costs.[1] Consequently, detained asylum seekers have the same rights to legal assistance as those in liberty.
Legal assistance for asylum seekers in detention is provided by CNRR through the project “Specialised legal assistance for asylum seekers in Romania”, funded by the AMIF national program. According to CNRR, if the detained asylum seekers express their wish to be counselled before the interview, a CNRR legal advisor will provide the necessary assistance. In this case, the interested asylum seeker refers to the management of the centre and the latter informs CNRR and the legal counsellor will go to the detention centre.[2] CNRR also confirmed that legal counselling is provided upon request at every stage of the procedure.[3] The implementation of this project continued also in 2024.[4] As part of this project CNRR ensured legal counselling in all 6 regional centres for asylum seekers (1 counsellor/centre). In the public custody centres in Otopeni and Arad the counselling of asylum seekers was provided by 2 other counsellors of CNRR.
In Arad, legal counselling is provided by the CNRR legal counsellor from Timișoara according to CNRR. However, CNRR reported there were no asylum claims made by foreigners detained in Arad or Bucharest in 2022.[5] No information was presented for 2023. According to data reported by CNRR for the year 2024, counselling was provided to four individuals in detention who had applied for asylum: three in the Otopeni Detention Centre and one in the Arad Detention Centre.[6] It is possible that the actual number of cases was higher; however, no additional data was made available by the IGI. In practice asylum seekers were relying on the information received from other detainees. This was also confirmed by the interviewed detainees who reported that they were not counselled by any NGO on asylum applications or subsequent applications, and that they were relying on the information provided by other detainees or police officers.
CNRR reported that, IGI informs CNRR Bucharest by email when an asylum application is made.[7] The representative of Arad centre said they inform the CNRR representative working in the centre if an asylum claim is made, because while the detainee is an asylum seeker, he/she cannot benefit from the services provided under the project implemented. The director of Timișoara centre said they inform the legal counsellor in Timișoara if an asylum claim was made from the detention centre, but not every time. Nevertheless, it seems that the communication between IGI and CNRR was flawed in 2021 and as well as in 2022 because, CNRR reported that there were no asylum requests made in detention centres in 2022,[8] even though the representative of Arad centre reported 92 asylum applications.
It is more difficult or even impossible for asylum seekers to contact the legal counsellors or attorneys in due time in order to prepare and/or assist them for the personal interview. They are made aware of their rights and obligations as asylum seekers only at the interview conducted by the IGI-DAI case officer. There is no legal counsellor providing legal counselling to asylum seekers in detention who work in the centre on a daily basis. Lawyers cannot contact their clients by phone, as the detainees are not allowed to have personal phones in detention and may only use their phone upon request if it has no camera. Lawyers may only access them if they visit them or if the clients have free minutes left to talk on the phone. Meetings are held in private rooms.
Therefore, no appeals were drafted by CNRR in 2021 and 2022.[9] According to the director of Timișoara centre, all appeals were lodged by the applicants. He also noted that detained asylum seekers are not counselled by anyone before the interview and none of the appeals were admitted by the court.
In 2023 and 2024 legal aid was provided by CNRR under European Union funds. According to CNRR, from the practice encountered in 2024, asylum seekers did not face obstacles in accessing legal assistance in detention. They had effective access to legal assistance, such as legal assistance for asylum seekers in detention being provided by CNRR through the project “Specialised legal assistance for asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection in Romania”, funded by the AMIF national program. If the detained asylum seekers expressed their wish to receive legal counselling before the interview or at any stage of the asylum procedure (e.g., lodging a complaint against the IGI decision), a CNRR legal advisor would provide the necessary assistance. In such cases, the asylum seeker would inform the centre’s management, who would then notify CNRR, and the legal counsellor would go to the detention centre. If the situation required it, the CNRR legal counsellor could call an interpreter to assist with the legal counselling session.[10]
According to the observations from the Ombudsman report on the visit conducted on 27June 2024, to the Otopeni Detention Center: “Legal and material assistance activities were carried out through projects implemented by non-governmental organizations with which IGI/the Centre had collaboration agreements, based on projects funded either from their own resources or from European Union funds. These organizations included: the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Romanian National Council for Refugees (CNRR), and JRS – the Jesuit Refugee Service Romania.”[11]
[1] Article 19^16(2) Asylum Act.
[2] Information provided by CNRR, 15 February 2022.
[3] ibid.
[4] ibid.in February 2025.
[5] ibid. 7 February 2023.
[6] ibid. March 2025.
[7] ibid. 7 February 2023.
[8] ibid. 15 February 2022.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Information provided by CNRR in February 2025.
[11] Information provided by Ombudsman visit report in Otopeni Detention Centre, 27 June 2024, available here.