ASYFAIR Research

About

This study examined the process of appealing against initially negative asylum decisions in different countries in Europe. We were interested in the extent to which asylum appellants are able to take part in the proceedings. Thematically our work was focused on a number of research topics, these include:

  • The extent to which appeal procedure can and/or should be consistent between cases and (inter)national boundaries
  • What it means to talk about procedural ‘fairness’
  • The effect that a ‘courtroom atmosphere’ has on proceedings
  • The publicness of asylum appeals
  • The role(s) of technology in the courtroom
  • What helpful practices can be found to increase appellants’ participation and ease communication in general in the hearings

For more information, see here.

Methodology

ASYFAIR is a multi-disciplinary and multi-methodology study. We collected qualitative and quantitative data through a variety of research tools, and conducted research in a variety of EU countries, such as the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy and Greece. We also collaborated with other research groups, as well as disseminate our research at academic, professional and public conferences and events.

For a full outline of our methodology, refer to the chapter on methodology in our upcoming open-access book.

Court Ethnographies

We conducted 896 observations of asylum appeals at hearing centres in France, Germany, Austria, Belgium and the UK. Various courts in Europe have been visited by our researchers, who collected both qualitative ethnographic data and quantitative survey data. The court ethnography is the key source of data for the ASYFAIR study.

You can find more information about our court ethnographies here.

Interviews

We were also examining the way hearings are experienced by different groups including appellants and legal professionals, which involved interviewing them to explore their personal experience and views of asylum appeal procedures.

You can find more information about our interviews here.

Data Use, Consent & Protection

The data is used to write academic research that is published in academic journals and discussed at academic conferences. In addition, as the study aimed to improve asylum adjudication, we used anonymised data to present to policy makers, the public and the media (e.g. in form of public reports).

Researchers obtained verbal or written consent from all research participants during the interviews. You can find information about consent here.

In accordance with current Data Protection legislation, all the information we collected is strictly confidential, and has been anonymised to the fullest extent possible, including taking out identifying names, job titles and responsibilities, places, as well as altering unusual events, characteristics and aspects of participants and the things they describe or that are associated with them where appropriate in order to protect anonymity.

You can find more information about data protection here.

Research Findings

The project ran from 2017 until early 2021.

You can find our publications and other research output here.

We are still interesting in research collaborations with other research teams and institutions, as well as disseminate our research findings at academic, professional and public conferences, events and meetings.