THE ASYLUM INFORMATION DATABASE (AIDA)
The Asylum Information Database (AIDA) is a database managed by the European Council on Refugees and
Exiles (ECRE), containing information on asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention and content of
international protection across 23 countries. This includes 19 European Union (EU) Member States (Austria,
Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia) and 4 non-EU countries (Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, United
Kingdom).
The overall goal of the database is to contribute to the improvement of asylum policies and practices in Europe and
the situation of asylum seekers by providing all relevant actors with appropriate tools and information to support
their advocacy and litigation efforts, both at the national and European level. These objectives are carried out by
AIDA through the following activities:
❖ Country reports: AIDA contains national reports documenting asylum procedures, reception conditions,
detention and content of international protection in 23 countries.
❖ Comparative report: AIDA comparative reports provide a thorough comparative analysis of practice relating
to the implementation of asylum standards across the countries covered by the database, in addition to an
overview of statistical asylum trends and a discussion of key developments in asylum and migration policies
in Europe. Annual reports were published in 2013, 2014 and 2015. From 2016 onwards, AIDA comparative
reports are published in the form of thematic updates, focusing on the individual themes covered by the
database. Thematic reports have been published on reception (March 2016), asylum procedures (September
2016), content of protection (March 2017), vulnerability (September 2017), detention (March 2018), access to
the territory and registration (October 2018), reception (May 2019) and asylum authorities (October 2019).
❖ Fact-finding visits: AIDA includes the development of fact-finding visits to further investigate important
protection gaps established through the country reports, and a methodological framework for such missions.
Fact-finding visits have been conducted in Greece, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, France, Belgium and Germany.
❖ Legal briefings: Legal briefings aim to bridge AIDA research with evidence-based legal reasoning and
advocacy. With the assistance of information gathered from country reports, these short papers identify and
analyse key issues in EU asylum law and policy and identify potential protection gaps in the asylum acquis.
Legal briefings so far cover: (1) Dublin detention; (2) asylum statistics; (3) safe countries of origin;
(4) procedural rights in detention; (5) age assessment of unaccompanied children; (6) residence permits for
beneficiaries of international protection; (7) the length of asylum procedures; (8) travel documents for
beneficiaries of international protection; (9) accelerated procedures; (10) the expansion of detention; (11)
relocation; and (12) withdrawal of reception conditions.
❖ Statistical updates AIDA releases short publications with key figures and analysis on the operation of the
Dublin system across selected European countries. Updates have been published for 2016, the first half of
2017, 2017, the first half of 2018, 2018 and the first half of 2019, 2019 and the first half of 2020.
_______________________
AIDA is funded by the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), a collaborative initiative by the Network of
European Foundations, and the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).