Press Release: EU’s biometric database continues to ensure effective management of the Common European Asylum System

The 2008 annual report on the activities of EURODAC (the EU-wide biometric tool which helps determine which Member State is responsible for examining an asylum claim), was published on 25 September 2009 by the Commission. The report gives essential information on patterns of asylum seeking and illegal entry in the EU, and showed a sharp increase in the number of persons apprehended in connection with irregular crossing of the EU external border. The figure for 'multiple applications' – asylum claims where the same person has already made an application in the same country or in another Member State – remains stable: 17,5% of the asylum applications in 2008 were subsequent asylum applications.

European Commission: MEMO/09/414: Publication of the 2008 annual report on the activities of EURODAC Policy http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/414&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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