We interviewed people who have been through the asylum appeal process, or who are working on asylum appeals and with asylum appellants in Europe to tell us about their experiences of the process. This was particularly useful in countries in which we did not have access to courts, such as Italy and Greece.
We have conducted 75 interviews in Italy, Greece, Germany and Austria, und 70 interviews in the UK (from a previous ESRC-funded project).
WHAT HAPPENED DURING INTERVIEWS?
During the interview participants have been asked to share their experiences and perspectives on the asylum appeal process. The interviews have been audio recorded for later transcription.
Current or former asylum seeker who experienced asylum appeals in court were asked about their background, the period leading up to the hearing, the hearing itself, what happened after the hearing, and how they felt before, during and after the asylum appeal. We asked how much they understood and whether they thought they were able to take part in the proceedings. In some instances we asked intimate and personal questions such as questions related to their religion or sexual orientation, if this was relevant for your asylum case.
We also interviewed other people involved in asylum appeals (e.g. legal professionals, judges, legal representatives, etc.), asking questions related to their experience of and perspective on asylum appeal procedures, their roles in proceedings, and how appeals could be improved.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COLLECTED INFORMATION?
Recorded interviews were transcribed (and were necessary translated) and similar to our court observations, analysed to see if there are patterns in the ways professionals experience and view asylum appeals.
All data is securely stored, and we made sure that participants cannot be identified from anything that we publish.
Further information on data protection is available here.
Further Information to Download
ASYFAIR Interview Participation Flyer
Interview Information Sheet – Professionals
Interview Information Sheet – Asylum Seekers
You can find further information and info sheets to download in German, French, Italian, Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and Farsi. Please follow the links in the sidebar for information in various languages.
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