European asylum processes show bias; origin dictates processing speed and outcome for applicants.
🔗 Read the article on denikreferendum.cz
[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]
In the first half of this year, Europe received asylum applications from 399,000 people, marking a 24 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2024. While the topic has been widely discussed across Europe, particularly concerning Poland’s handling of migrants at the Belarusian border and Hungary’s involvement in the refugee crisis, an Austrian study by Olya Aliova’s team examined asylum procedures for 350,000 applicants between 2022 and 2024. The study found that Ukrainians received decisions on their legal status within two months, while Syrian and Afghan applicants waited half a year and up to twenty months, respectively. This waiting time significantly impacts the lives of asylum seekers, restricting their movement and job prospects. The research concludes that treatment of refugees in Europe is unequal, as their origin fundamentally affects how long they remain uncertain. The speed of processing depends on initial categorization—some groups benefit from expedited procedures, while others face lengthy verification processes. Gender also plays a role, with women from conflict zones often receiving protection sooner than men. While administrative processes are followed, the study suggests that certain groups receive more assistance than others in practice. Similar issues have been noted in Germany, where prioritizing Ukrainians led to neglect of asylum seekers from African nations, and an OECD report confirmed that longer processing times slow integration into the workforce. In France, decisions typically take four to five months, sometimes over a year for complex cases, while in Italy, delays are often due to identity verification and file transfers between institutions. The Austrian study emphasizes that rapid integration of Ukrainians demonstrates that asylum systems can function effectively when there is political will, suggesting that these systems reflect priorities rather than being purely neutral. In the Czech Republic, applicants most frequently come from Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, though those who gain status are predominantly Ukrainian, Afghan, and Myanmar residents; however, the Ministry of Interior stated that average processing times are not systematically tracked due to limited utility.
