How do European countries identify victims of torture in the asylum procedure?

Asylum applicants who may be victims of torture and/or ill-treatment are vulnerable. EU Member States are required to take this into account during the asylum procedure. Half of the EU Member States, including the Netherlands, have guidelines to identify such victims during the asylum procedure. Member States do not have training programmes specifically dedicated to this purpose.

> Read the full EMN study (comparison between 27 European countries*) and the EMN Netherlands two-pager (comparing the Netherlands with other EU Member States)

Many people fleeing war, armed conflict or persecution have traumatic experiences. For recognised refugees, the principle of non-refoulement applies, a fundamental principle of international law stating that a person must not be returned to a country where their life or freedom would be seriously threatened.

European legislation

A report by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) indicates that in 2010 approximately 400,000 victims of torture were living in the EU. The same report estimates that 30–60% of asylum applicants who sought medical assistance had been victims of torture. EU Member States are required (under EU Directive 2013/32, Article 24) to have procedures in place to identify such victims during their application for international protection (asylum).

National guidelines

Fourteen European countries (BE, CY, DE, EE, EL, FR, IE, IT, MT, NL, PL, SE; NO, RS) have national guidelines to help authorities identify victims of torture or ill-treatment during the asylum procedure. In the Netherlands, for example, these include the IND working instructions ‘Medical issues and interviewing and decision-making in the asylum procedure’ and ‘Forensic medical examination’. Other countries use standard operating procedures (SOPs; BG, CY, EL, FI, IT), strategies (DE, FR), recommendations (NO), outputs from training (EE, FR) and/or handbooks (FI, FR, PL). Countries without written guidelines address the issue in other ways, for example through training.

Training programmes

No European country has a national training programme specifically aimed at identifying victims of torture or ill-treatment during an asylum application. In most countries, however, this topic is covered within broader training programmes on the vulnerabilities of asylum applicants (AT, BE, BG, DE, EE, EL, FI, FR, IT, LT, LU, NL, PL, SE, SK; NO, RS). Several countries (IE, FI, LU, PL, SE; NO) organise dedicated, standalone training sessions in this field.

Early-stage identification

Seven countries (BG, CY, EL, FI, FR, LU, LV) also provide training to staff working in asylum reception facilities. This enables them to identify victims at a relatively early stage. In the Netherlands, potential victims are identified at a later stage. In the Netherlands, medical examination takes place at the start of the asylum procedure by the IND.

Common challenges

Despite successes in cooperation, information exchange and the involvement of actors from earlier stages (such as reception centres), countries also experience challenges, including:

• Victims’ reluctance to report due to fear, shame or the psychological consequences of violence (BE, CY, DE, EL, FI, FR, HR, IT, LU, LV, MT, SE, SK; NO);
• Challenge of assessing the credibility of claims of torture (BE, CY, CZ, IE, LT, LU, PL, PT, SK);
• Lack of trust in authorities among victims, often resulting from experiences in countries of origin or transit (FI, FR, HR, LU, PT, SE, SI, SK).

*Participating countries: Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Cyprus (CY), Czechia (CZ), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Greece (EL), Finland (FI), France (FR), Croatia (HR), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Latvia (LV), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Sweden (SE), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK); Norway (NO); Ukraine (UA), Serbia (RS).