Access to Protection at Airports in Europe (2008)

In most Member States of the EU, the number of persons crossing the state border at airports far exceeds those at land or sea borders. Yet access of asylum seekers to the territory and the asylum procedure is often unregulated or ad hoc at such entry points. Although international and European laws contain rules and guidelines to ensure that refugees can have access to Europe, practices often do not reflect the protection envisaged in law.

The project “Monitoring asylum seekers’ access to territory and procedure at European airports — exchange of experience and best practices” sought to monitor how refugees’ access to Europe through 6 airports (Amsterdam, Budapest, Madrid, Prague, Vienna and Warsaw) in ensured in law and in practice. NGOs working to assist refugees took part in the project: the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Asylkoordination Austria, the Dutch Council for Refugees (Netherlands), the Organisation for Aid to Refugees (OPU, Czech Republic), Association for Legal Intervention (Poland) and the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR, Spain).

The project was supported by the European Refugee Fund, Community Actions 2005. The views expressed in this report and information provided by the project and the partners involved do not necessarily reflect the point of the view European Commission.

The project resulted in the report “Access to Protection at Airports in Europe – Report on the monitoring experience at airports in Amsterdam, Budapest, Madrid, Prague, Vienna and Warsaw”

The HHC and its partners wish to express their appreciation for the support given to the project by a variety of organisations and invididuals, in particular the border guard and asylum authorities of the 6 EU Member States concerned,UNHCR and the European Council on Refugees and Migrants (ECRE).