Policy Brief: When The Dublin System Keeps Families Apart

For many years, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has been working with asylum seekers in the Dublin procedure. And for many years, DRC has experienced how families in practice are separated by the Dublin procedure and how the best interests of the child are often not taken adequately into consideration when authorities make decisions in accordance with the Dublin Regulation. Families must often fight for their right to family life by challenging the decisions of Member State authorities – a fight that many families do not win. The protracted appeals procedures along with burdensome administrative procedures in first instance result in families having to wait for many months before they can be allowed to reunite. With the reform of the Dublin III Regulation, DRC therefore calls for a Dublin IV Regulation which ensures that all families are kept together and that the best interests of the child are always taken into account when the Member State authorities make decisions based on the Dublin Regulation. To ensure that both the current Dublin III Regulation1 and a possible future Dublin IV Regulation are implemented by the Member States in accordance with international human rights law, DRC also calls for the EU and its Member States to develop guidelines on the implementation of the Dublin Regulation with the aim of keeping families together and respecting the best interests of the child. In March 2017, DRC presented our position2 on the proposed Dublin IV Regulation and this policy brief elaborates further on the topic of families and children in the Dublin procedure. Practical examples illustrate the challenges asylum seekers experience due to the restrictive and non-flexible practices of the Member States when making decisions under the Dublin Regulation and how this effect families who apply for asylum in Europe. The policy brief will provide policy recommendations based on practical lessons learned.