Schengen area
In the Schengen Agreement, 26 European countries (22 of the 28 EU member states plus four European Free Trade Association states) joined together to form an area where border checks on internal Schengen borders (between member states) are abolished. Border checks are restricted to the external Schengen borders and countries with external borders are obligated to enforce border control regulations. Countries may reinstate internal border controls for a maximum of two months for 'public policy or national security' reasons.
Dublin regulation
The Dublin regulation determines the EU member state responsible for examining an asylum application to prevent asylum applicants in the EU from 'asylum shopping', where applicants send their applications for asylum to numerous EU member states or 'asylum orbiting', where no member state takes responsibility for an asylum seeker.
By default when no family reasons or humanitarian grounds are present, the first member state that an asylum seeker entered and in which they have been fingerprinted is responsible. If the asylum seeker then moves to another member state, they can be transferred back to the member state they first entered.
This has led many to criticise the Dublin rules for placing too much responsibility for asylum seekers on member states on the EU's external borders like Italy, Greece and Hungary, instead of devising a burden-sharing system among EU states.
Background: the crisis in Greece and Italy
Compiled: Muhammad Tan'im Tajuddin
