POLICY REPORT ON IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM IN LATVIA ...

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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Methodology
The Policy report on the migration and asylum situation in Latvia in year 2010 is
developed according to the specification and structure elaborated by the European Commission
and approved by the national control points of the EMN.
To display most substantial changes and improvements of policy and legislation in the
field of migration and asylum in Latvia, on the basis of the information about implementation
of the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum and the Stockholm Programme, experts from
the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of
Welfare, the State Border Guard, the Court Administration, the Organized Crime Combating
Division of the Main Criminal Police Board of the State Police, and the Office of Citizenship
and Migration Affairs were involved in the development of the Report.
To reach the society in political and public debates, as well as in evolution of national
legislation in the field of migration and asylum state institutions, non-governmental
organisations, academics and media mostly use the web. Therefore in the development of the
Report mostly the web was used, to oversee and appraise latest articles, opinions and debates
on the matters on migration and asylum in Latvia. News portals www.apollo.lv, www.delfi.lv,
www.tvnet.lv, www.diena.lv, www.la.lv, www.db.lv, www.nra.lv, www.lv.lv, www.ir.lv, were
used in the development of the Report, as well as legislation portal of the Republic of Latvia:
www.likumi.lv, specialised information portals for refugees and asylum seekers:
www.patverums-dm.lv, portal of social policy www.politika.lv, and information available and
provided on the external homepages of the Central Election Commission www.cvk.lv, the
Saeima www.saeima.lv, the Cabinet of Ministers www.mk.gov.lv and the involved ministries.
When preparing the Report, special criteria were not used to verify significance of
articles, publications, opinions and debates.
1.2. Terms and Definitions
Foreigner – a person who is not a Latvian citizen or non-citizen of Latvia. 2
Third-country national – any person who is not a citizen of the Republic of Latvia, other
Member State of the European Union, the European Economic Area or the Swiss
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Immigration Law.// The Latvian Herald, No.169, 20.11.2002.