Fast track procedure for asylum applications from Iraqis

The Government of Norway announced in September 2008 thirteen measures to decrease the numbers of asylum seekers to Norway without a need for protection. One of the measures was to establish a fast track procedure for particular groups with a high percentage of rejections. The Directorate of Migration (UDI) and the police has now established a fast track procedure in a transit reception centre in Torshov, Oslo. The Torshov project will process asylum applications from Iraqis that can be decided quickly.

The project’s goal is to make sure that the whole procedure including registration, interview, processing and decision making becomes more efficient since every step of the process takes place at the reception centre at Torshov in Oslo. Project Torshov was officially opened by the Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion Dag Terje Andersen on Monday 17 November.

Iraqis have been chosen as the pilot group because this group alone amounts to one fifth of all new asylum applications in Norway. Since the project started in early October the UDI has made 177 decisions and all but one have been rejections. Applications which need to be verified or need a more thorough examination are transferred from the project to ordinary asylum procedure.

The processing time shall be 8 days. When the UDI has made a decision, the concerned applicant are moved to one of the ordinary reception centres awaiting the appeal and later either settlement in a municipality or return to the country of origin.

- Shorter time to process the applications has advantages both for the applicants and for the authorities. Those who receive a negative decision need not wait a long time for the outcome. At the same time, short processing time sends a clear signal which enables us to spend more resources on applicants with a real need for protection, says Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion Dag Terje Andersen.

Project Torshov shall last until 1 March 2009, but may be extended.