Common European Asylum System in a Changing World

 training members of national administrative bodies in charge of asylum, courts, and tribunals  providing operational support to MS subject to particular pressure  providing support to the third countries (near the EU, especially to Western Balkan countries, to Turkey and Middle East and North African countries) Operational Support Currently, one of the main tasks of the EASO is to provide, on request the operational support to MS. This support can take many forms and it is always designed according to specific needs of the MS in question. The EASO distinguishes:  special support (capacity building, facilitation and coordination of relocation, specific support, and special quality control tools)  emergency support, for MS subject to particular pressure (temporary support to repair or rebuild asylum and reception systems)  joint processing activities (external help for MS) During the last years, the EASO has provided the operational support e.g. to Italy, Greece, and Cyprus, especially for reasons of an increasing number of immigrant arrivals. The EASO publishes many data and analyses (EPS, COI etc.) on its website. Every year the EASO also publishes a summarized Annual report on the situation of asylum in the European Union, which contains a large amount of interesting information and summarised statistical data on migration. The EASO activities can thus be valuable to academic research in the field of migration too. EXERCISE: Try to search in the last Annual report the responses for the following questions: 1. Which country received the most asylum applications in the last year, and how many? 2. Where do most asylum seekers come from (the first 5 countries)? 3. What percentage of applicants for international protection from these countries succeeded with their application (i.e. obtained status of refugee, subsidiary or humanitarian protection)?

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