Dublin

Dublin is a legislative framework for determining which Dublin State is responsible for examining a specific asylum application. The Dublin States are all of the EU Member States plus the four associated States (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). In Switzerland, the SEM is responsible for examining asylum applications.

When an asylum seeker submits an application in Switzerland, Switzerland must first establish whether it is actually responsible for processing this person's asylum application. It does this based on the criteria set out in the Dublin Regulation. If another State is responsible, Switzerland will transfer the asylum seeker to that State.

The purpose of this system is to ensure that one State is clearly responsible for examining each asylum application. This system of responsibility guarantees asylum seekers effective access to the asylum procedure as well as the swift processing of their asylum applications. This should ensure that all asylum seekers have their applications examined and that no two States are examining the same application.

Dublin is frequently mentioned in association with Eurodac, the technical toolbox for implementing the Dublin Regulation. Eurodac is a database used to store the fingerprints of all asylum seekers. When an individual lodges an asylum application in Switzerland, Switzerland can crosscheck the records in the Eurodac database to see whether that person has already submitted an asylum application in another Dublin State.

The Dublin Regulation has already undergone two amendments. The latest Dublin III Regulation entered into force in the EU on 19 July 2013.

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Last modification 03.08.2022

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