legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

ICELAND
LEGAL CONDITIONS
The legal basis
– The Geneva Convention of 1951 and the New York Protocol of 1967;
– The Foreign Nationals Supervision Act No. 45 of 12 May 1965.
The Schengen Agreement should enter into force in Iceland in the course of 2001.
Iceland is not a EU member state and thus it is not party to the Dublin Convention. However,
alongside with Norway, a parallel agreement to the Dublin Convention is being currently being
negotiated with the European Union.
Refugee status
Convention status is the only kind of refugee status granted in Iceland. Convention refugees are
entitled to receive a permanent residence permit.
So far (May 2000), only one person has been granted refugee status under the normal
determination procedure in Iceland.
Quota refugees
Although Iceland does not have a general agreement with UNHCR regarding a regular quota of
refugees, it has received quota refugees occasionally since 1956. For the period 1996-1999,
there has been an annual quota varying from 17 to 75. The Icelandic Government may decide on
the composition of these groups on the basis of UNHCR´s written recommendations. Quota
refugees are granted Convention status.
In addition, Iceland has received 75 Kosovo Albanians under the UNHCR Humanitarian
Evacuation Programme. These persons were all granted refugee status upon arrival and
permanent residence permit.
Other types of residence permit
Ordinary temporary residence permits may be granted for humanitarian reasons to aliens who
cannot be returned to their countries of origin. Permits are granted for one year and renewable
annually. After a period of three years, there is a possibility to apply for a permanent residence
permit.
The current Icelandic legislation does not include any provisions on temporary protection.
Rejection at the border
Section 10(4) of the Foreign Nationals Supervision Act – the only provision of the Act dealing
specifically with the asylum seekers’ access to the territory – states that if an alien maintains that
he/she has been forced to seek asylum as a political refugee, the police may not deny entry into
Iceland, providing that his/her statement is considered to be credible.
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Iceland