On 18 March 2021, the Management Board of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) adopted the EASO Strategy on Reception. The document responds to the growing demand from EU+ countries for EASO’s operational and technical support on the reception of asylum seekers.
Prepared through extensive consultation with EU+[1] countries, the European Commission and UNHCR, the Reception Strategy lays the ground for EASO to further increase its capacity and expertise to respond to EU+ countries’ needs in the field of reception, through permanent technical support, training and operational interventions in EU+ countries and third countries along the migratory route facing disproportionate pressures on their reception systems.
Recognising the negative impact of inadequate reception conditions on the human dignity and fundamental rights of asylum seekers directly, and on the integrity of the Common European Asylum System in general, the strategy foresees meaningful EASO support to EU+ countries in enhancing their reception systems and increasing reception capacity where needed, in line with EU and EASO standards.
EASO’s Reception Standards and Indicators have been jointly developed by EU+ countries and were formally approved by the EASO Management Board in 2016 and 2018. These Standards and Indicators build upon, and further elaborate, key elements of the recast Reception Conditions Directive and represent a commonly agreed EU-level reference for the design, development and operation of reception centres, in line with European values of human dignity.
The EASO reception standards, covering topics such as infrastructure, sanitation, food provision, information provision, counselling and the training of staff, are at the core of the Agency’s technical and operational support on reception in Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Malta and, since January 2021, in Spain.
This support is provided through EASO personnel and national experts deployed to enhance the capacity of reception services and training of Reception officers in frontline countries, as well as through technical advice from the EASO Reception Team in EASO Headquarters. EASO is, for example, part of the taskforce working on the development of reception facilities on the Greek islands, providing technical expertise and support aiming at a full alignments of reception facility designs with EU standards.
The Strategy on Reception provides a solid framework for this growing support and paves the way for the development of more practical tools and training by EASO over the coming years.
[1] EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland
