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Evaluation of AnkER Facilities and Functionally Equivalent Facilities ,
Source: BAMF
The governing political parties, CDU, CSU and SPD agreed in the Coalition Agreement for the 19th electoral period to establish central arrival, decision and return facilities ("AnkER Facilities"). The central element of the AnkER Facilities and of Functionally Equivalent Facilities is to intensify inter-authority cooperation between all the stakeholders involved in the asylum procedure. The intended proximity of the different stakeholders in one place aims at the optimization of all phases of asylum procedure processing, from the arrival of persons seeking protection, through to their distribution among the municipalities, or return.
On behalf of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community, the BAMF's Research Centre investigated the extent to which the conceptual idea of the AnkER Facilities and Functionally Equivalent Facilities of uniting all stakeholders involved together under one roof, leads to increases in efficiency and effectiveness in the different phases of asylum procedure processing.
This process evaluation examines 14 AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities in six Länder between August 2018 and July 2020. The process evaluation includes analyses of the efficiency of the national asylum procedure and of the Dublin procedure, as well as the effectiveness of measures to terminate residence in the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities. Furthermore, the process evaluation investigates the implementation of asylum procedure counselling by the BAMF, advice on voluntary return offered by the BAMF in several Länder, as well as the initial orientation and "Roadmap courses" in the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities.
The most important results at a glance
AnkER Facilities and Functionally Equivalent Facilities offer good conditions for establishing the origin and identity of persons seeking protection as early as possible.
AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities implement measures to establish the origin and identity of persons seeking protection as early as possible more intensively than other BAMF locations. For example, 53 per cent of the mobile data media examined are scanned at an early stage in the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities, even before the application for asylum takes place. Intensive cooperation between the Land authorities and the BAMF can be observed in the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities in the phase between registration and application.
National asylum procedures are faster in AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities.
The average duration of the national asylum procedure of persons seeking protection with an obligation to live in the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities is 77 calendar days, which is five days faster than in the other locations, at 82 calendar days.
Dublin transfers and forced return from AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities increase over time.
The probability of transfer within the Dublin-Regulation at AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities is five percentage points lower than at the other locations over the entire period under review. Over time, the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities show a continuous increase in transfers of persons seeking protection to an EU Member State which is responsible for the asylum procedure. The Dublin-transfer rates from AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities were higher from October 2019 to January 2020 than at other locations.
The likelihood of a failed forced return is five percentage points higher at AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities in comparison to the other locations. For example, the forced return rate at AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities is 31 per cent, compared to 36 per cent at the other locations. The probability of forced return from the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities increased over time.
AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities provide counselling and support service in all phases of the asylum procedure.
Roughly, 21,100 persons, 86 percent of all persons seeking protection, who arrived in the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities, consulted the BAMF's general asylum procedure counselling by March of last year. At the request of the Länder, the BAMF offers individual advice on voluntary return provided by its own staff at the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities. Since the start of the Federal Office's own advice on voluntary return at the Saxon AnkER Facility in Dresden, and in the Functionally Equivalent Facilities in Chemnitz and Leipzig in January 2019, roughly 20 per cent of all persons, whose asylum applications were rejected, have taken advantage of the BAMF's advice on voluntary return. Furthermore, almost 13,500 persons attended initial orientation courses, and 2,600 persons attended "Roadmap courses" at the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities.
The methodology of the study
The analyses for the Research Report combine quantitative and qualitative methods in order to generate the most valid results possible. The statistical analyses use data from MARiS and from the Central Register of Foreigners, and enable a comprehensive statistical comparison between AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities and the other locations. In addition, narrative individual and group interviews were conducted in seven AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities during the evaluation period. In total, more than 100 people took part in these interviews, including local representatives of the Federal and Land authorities as well as employees of the state and non-state counselling services. Discussions were also held with representatives of the Federal Police, and at one location, with a representative of the Land police, regarding forced return measures from the AnkER Facilities/Functionally Equivalent Facilities.