STOISITS: FEDERAL ASYLUM OFFICE CAUSES TWO YEAR PROCEDURE DELAY

This summer, a Somali asylum seeker turned to the Austrian Ombudsman Board with a complaint concerning his overdue asylum procedure. At that point, he had already waited for almost a year for the finalization of his procedure. The responsible Ombudswoman initiated an investigation and asked the Federal Minister of the Interior for a statement.

The statement revealed that the Federal Asylum Office had ordered the procurement of a language analysis expertise. The only linguist available in Austria had been assigned for this purpose. This drew negative consequences for the asylum seeker: The expertise caused a delay of 20 months. Hence, the asylum seeker had to wait two years for the finalization of his procedure: an unreasonably long time. The drawing of the expertise alone took one year and eight months. The Ombudsman Board ruled the asylum seeker’s complaint as founded - the disproportionate amount of time of the procedure was unjustifiable.