Objective: The European Asylum Curriculum (EAC) is an EU Member State Initiative aiming to enhance the capacity and quality of the European asylum process as well as to strengthen practical cooperation among the European asylum/immigration systems. The project objective is to produce a common vocational training for employees of the Immigration Services in the EU.

Funding: Phase I was funded via the ARGO program of the European Commission and Phase II and III are funded via the ERF Community Action Program of the EC.

Overview: EAC is a co-operation between the Swedish, Dutch, Czech, Spanish and British Immigration Services with the Odysseus Academic Network to create a European Asylum Curriculum for common vocational training of employees of the Immigration Services in the EU. The EAC-project is realised under the auspices of the General Directors’ Immigration Services Conference (GDISC).

EAC aspires at creating a complete and harmonised learning tool for primarily case workers. Based on the EU-legislation on asylum and relevant international norms EAC will create a learning system that can be used as a common foundation in all 27 Member States. It will build on developments of and experiences from different learning strategies in the Member States as well as relevant NGO’s.

EAC offers a practical approach to training in the field of asylum with an interaction between training in knowledge (theory related to international European legal instruments) and skills (the necessary practical competence for a case office). EAC will provide a “tool-box” that allows the Member States to “pick and choose” from the modules in the Curriculum based on their particular training needs. The practical approach will be evident in the various training methods such as the case-based method, self-training in the form of e-learning with interactive learning methods such as “questions and answers”, exchanges of ideas through web-forums (under tutoring of the trainer). Face-to-face session between the trainer and the trainees will be held for each module, and the trainer’s manual/guide will provide the trainer with useful input for these sessions via cases and role-plays for the specific module.

Realising the EAC, Phase 1 (2006):

During the first phase, the EAC team made an inventory of existing training programmes among the Member States as well as among independent university education. The outcome of the inventory and the needs analysis provided a foundation for the Madrid Conference in the beginning of June. The aim of the Conference was to discuss suggested content, methods and implementation of EAC with representatives from the Immigration Services’ asylum managers and training sections. The Curriculum, setting out the framework for the full EAC, was thereafter developed along with a pilot module on EU-Law. The syllabus of the Curriculum was presented at the GDISC Annual Conference in October 2006 (See further the added Curriculum)

Phase II (2007- June 2008):

The second phase focussed on producing the toolbox from the Curriculum. The management team and experts on content and methodology from the Member States Immigration Services, the Odysseus Academic Network and the Centre for Education Technologies have developed the modules on the different topics. Various didactical methods were used and training material was developed in forms of texts, trainer's guides, learning materials with audio-visual and electronic support etc.

Two modules of the Curriculum were tested by national trainers and their students from 18 Member States - plus Switzerland and Norway - and afterwards evaluated. Totally, 4 modules were ready in June 2008:

- EU Asylum Law

- Introduction in International Human Rights Law

- Interview Techniques

- Inclusion

Phase III (2008-2010):

In the third phase the remaining modules of the Curriculum will be developed. The following modules will be finished in 2008 and early 2009:

- Country of Origin Information (with assistance from ACCORD Austria)

- Evidence Assessment

- Interview Techniques Children

The project aspires to further train national trainers from the Member States on the common toolbox and administration of the EAC Online training, depending on available funding. The project will furthermore promote the development of some kind of coordination office for update, maintenance and coordination of the finalised EAC. The national implementation and continuation of the European Asylum Curriculum will be a major theme at the mutual GDISC Asylum/EAC Conference to be held in The Hague, the Netherlands from 21-24 October 2008.

Upcoming EAC-training possibilities:

In this third phase of the project we have also been funded by the European Commission for providing 4 real trainings of national trainers in the finalized modules. We have chosen to provide training in the 5 modules mentioned below:

Human rights law (November/December 2008)

Interview Techniques (February/March 2009)

Interview Techniques on Children (-)

Country of Origin Information (February/March 2009)

Inclusion (March/April 2009)

Partners;

-Odysseus Network

-ECRE

-IARLJ

-UNHCR

-Red Cross Austria

Invitations for these trainings will be sent out in summer 2008.

See also Phase I and Phase II

See above

The Swedish Migration Board

Jan Westmar (Project Leader)

International Coordination Unit

Pyramidvägen 2.A, Box 507, 169 29 Solna

+46 8 5539 7838

+46 11 15 66 48 (fax)

+46 11 708 365 111 (mobile)

jan.westmar@migrationsverket.se

The Swedish Migration Board

Göran Larsson

Sphere of Operations Asylum

Legal Practice Division

Tegelängsgatan 19A

SE 601 70 Norrköping

Sweden

+46 11 15 61 91

+46 11 15 62 70 (fax)

+46 708 15 61 97 (mobile)

goran.larsson@migrationsverket.se

Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service

Herman Fabriek

Hoftzichtpark, room 9.14

P.O. Box 16502

2500 BM The Hague

The Netherlands

+31 70 779 7286

+31 70 779 4299 (fax)

+31 6 2005 1724 (mobile)

hfabriek@ind.minjus.nl

The Czech Ministry of the Interior

Martina Vlková

Deputy Head of Unit for International Relations

Department for Asylum and Migration Policy

Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic

tel.: +420 974 832 266

fax: +420 974 833 530

mobil: +420 733 676 896

vlkova@mvcr.cz

The Spanish Ministry of Interior

Raphael Garcia

Directorate General of Internal Policy

Asylum Office

Pradillo, 40

28002-Madrid

Spain

+34 915372103

+34 915372141 (fax)

Rgarcia@refugio.mir.es

Odysseus Academic Network

www.ulb.ac.be/assoc/odysseus

Philippe De Bruycker

Université Libre de Bruxelles

CP 137

Roosevelt Avenue, 50

1050 Brussels

Belgium

+32 2 650 38 90

+32 2 650 45 46 (fax)

+32 476 28 22 49 (mobile)

+32 650 49 96 (Secretary, Ms Bosmans)

debruyck@ulb.ac.be