Presentation about the use of DubliNet and

Eurodac systems in the Republic of Latvia

Bucureşti, 29-30 September 2005

Ms. Dace Gailīte

Senior Officer of Refugee Affairs Department

Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs of the Ministry of

Interior

Phone +371 7219571, fax +371 7219321, e-mail

dace.gailite@pmlp.gov.lv

Authorities in Latvia responsible for the Dublin procedure:

1. Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) Refugee Affairs Department – no separate Dublin Office (staff 9 persons including the Administration of The Asylum Reception Centre), responsible for Eurodac system implementation, administration and maintenance, administration of the DubliNet, the implementation of the Dublin Regulation.

2. The State Border Guard – authorized to receive asylum applications on the Border and in the Country, perform identification - interview, collect fingerprint data and transmit to Central Unit, give advises or information in Dublin cases.

3. Forensic Research Department of the State Police – owner of the National AFIS, experts in biometric, perform manual verification in case of Eurodac HIT answer.

DubliNet in the Dublin procedure in Latvia:

• Refugee Affairs Department (RAD) – DubliNet – located in Riga in OCMA.

• RAD examines “Dublin cases”

• 1 computer at the Refugee Affairs Department for all incoming and outgoing

mails and for administrative mailbox.

• The separate server from Eurodac system`s server, e-mail – Mozilla Mail.

• Maximum size of e-mail is 50 Megabits.

• Not able to view ANSI/NIST files.

• No connection with National AFIS.

Requests May June July August September October N ovember December TotalTake charge 2 1 1 4Take back 0Information 1 2 1 2 1 7Total 1 2 2 3 2 11

2004

Statistics

Incoming cases for 2004 and 2005

Requests January February March April May June July August September October November December TotalTake charge 2 2Take backInformation 2 1 1 2 5 11Total 2 1 1 2 7 13

2005

During this period no outgoing request to the other MS.

Latvia has accepted 4 requests to take charge for 7 asylum seekers from Sweden, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania.

Eurodac and usage in Latvia:• 8 Fingerprint image transmission stations –

2 at OCMA, 6 at The State Border guard.

• SAGEM SA (France) Eurodac solution.• Responsible for Eurodac Regulation fulfilment - OCMA and State Border Guards.

Eurodac Data flow in Latvia:

NAP server, MAIL serverOCMA

National DomainState Information Network

Agency

AFISForensic ResearchDepartment of the

State Police

Flatbedscanner, OCMA

Data

Response - HIT

Common Migration system (OCMA, under implementation)

TESTA II EurodacAFIS

FIT workstationsBorderguards

Livescan andflatbedscannerBorderguards

Data

Data

FIT workstation, NAP workstation- verification, OCMA RAD

StatisticsFrom 01/05/2004 till 25/09/2005 40 fingerprints were sent by Eurodac system:

2004

2005 (Jan-Sept)

Cat 1

Cat 2

Cat 3Cat 9

0

0

5

9

4

11

3

8Cat 1

Cat 2

Cat 3

Cat 9

Asylum Affairs

Number of asylum seekers and granted status -

58

22

5

14

30

711

32 41 1

5 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005.09.25.

Number of asylum application Alternative status granted

Refugee status granted

Country Application Adults Children

Azerbaijan 1 1 -

Belarus 1 1 -

Egypt 3 3 -

Georgia 1 1 -

Romania 1 1 -

Total 7 7 -

Total: 7 persons

Number of Asylum Seekers in 2004

Number of Asylum Seekers in 2005(till 25 September)

Country Application Adults Children

Moldova 1 1 -

Russia 2 2 -

Japan 1 1 -

Somalia 7 4 3

Total 11 8 3

Total: 11 persons

Problems –

• No connections with AFIS, DubliNet

• ANSI/NIST files

• Effective communication between involved IT authorities,

• maintenance and software (insufficient service in Latvia)

Future –

• ANSI/NIST

• Statistical software within the framework of Common Migration Network

• More FIT stations on external Border and more Livescans.

• Successful communication between IT institutions.

Thank you for your attention!