Reduction or withdrawal of reception conditions

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Article 33 of the Asylum Act provides that asylum seekers’ access to reception conditions may be reduced or withdrawn in the following cases, where:

1. The applicant leaves the assigned place of residence without informing the competent authority or without permission;
2. The applicant obtains economic resources and could deal with the whole or part of the costs of reception conditions or has any hidden economic resources;
3. The resolution of the application for international protection has been issued, and is notified to the interested party;
4. By act or omission, the rights of other residents or staff of the centres are violated;
5. The authorised programme or benefit period has finished.

Usually, asylum seekers are rarely expelled from reception facilities, unless they accumulate breaches to the rules of conduct of the centres, causing the necessary mandatory abandonment of the centre. In this case, the management authority will start a procedure which foresees the hearing of the subject, who can make allegations or give explanations within a 15-day period, after which a decision is taken. Legal assistance is not foreseen during this process, as this is an internal procedure.

According to the Reception Regulation, beneficiaries of protection and asylum seekers can have their reception conditions reduced in case they possess economic resources overcoming the limit foreseen by the law to access financial support, they abandon the facility without informing the managers, and in case of violation of the basic rules of the centre or the rights of other residents when they do not amount to cases of withdrawal. In both cases, beneficiaries sign a “social contract” where they commit to participate in these measures and accept this as a requirement to benefit from the different sources of support provided. In other cases, asylum seekers are warned in writing but there are no consequences such as reduction or withdrawal of reception conditions.^[1]

Reception conditions are never limited due to large numbers of arrivals. Instead, emergency measures are taken and asylum seekers are provided new available places where they can be hosted (see section on Types of Accommodation).

Withdrawal of reception conditions is foreseen in case of lack of formalisation of the asylum application or in case of non-admission, denial or withdrawal of the asylum, statelessness or TP application; in case of cessation or revocation of refugee status or subsidiary protection; for the expiration of the duration of reception conditions; in case of abandonment of the facility without informing the managers; in case of violation of the basic rules of the centre or the rights of other residents when they amount to cases of withdrawal; in case of accessing economic resources overcoming financial support that the applicant is receiving.^[2]

^{[1]          Article 31 of Reception Regulation.}

^{[2]          Ibidem.}