THE ASYLUM INFORMATION DATABASE (AIDA) Asylum Information Database is a database containing information on asylum procedures, reception conditions and detention across 20 European countries. This includes 17 European Union (EU) Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom) and 3 non-EU countries (Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey). AIDA started as a project of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), running from September 2012 to December 2015 in partnership with Forum Réfugiés-Cosi, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Irish Refugee Council, and is now developing into a core activity of ECRE. The overall goal of the database is to contribute to the improvement of asylum policies and practices in Europe and the situation of asylum seekers by providing all relevant actors with appropriate tools and information to support their advocacy and litigation efforts, both at the national and European level. These objectives are carried out by AIDA through the following activities: »» Country reports AIDA contains national reports documenting asylum procedures, reception conditions and detention in 18 countries. The latest update of all 18 country reports was completed in December 2015, while two new reports (Serbia, Spain) are soon to be published. »» Annual report The AIDA Annual Report provides a thorough comparative analysis of practice relating to the implementation of asylum standards across the countries covered by the database, in addition to an overview of statistical asylum trends and a discussion of key developments in asylum and migration policies in Europe: 2012/2013, 2013/2014 and 2014/2015. »» Fact-finding visits AIDA includes the development of fact-finding visits to further investigate important protection gaps established through the country reports, and a methodological framework for such missions. Fact-finding visits have been conducted in Greece, Hungary and Austria so far. »» Legal briefings Legal briefings aim to bridge AIDA research with evidence-based legal reasoning and advocacy. Five briefings have been published in 2015, covering: the legality of detention of asylum seekers under the Dublin Regulation; key problems in the collection and provision of asylum statistics in the EU, the concept of “safe country of origin”; the way the examination of asylum claims in detention impacts on procedural rights and their effectiveness; and age assessment of unaccompanied children. AIDA is funded by the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), a collaborative initiative by the Network of European Foundations, and the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of ECRE and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of EPIM or the European Commission. 3