The European Court of Justice has strengthened the rights of asylum seekers even in cases where the host country is overwhelmed. The specific case concerned two migrants in Ireland who were forced to live in precarious conditions for weeks.
Ireland has been guilty of wrongfully denying two asylum seekers accommodation and adequate material benefits, judges of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found in a ruling published on Friday (August 1).
The overload cited by Ireland due to a high number of refugees from Ukraine did not constitute grounds for an exception, the highest court of the European Union said.
EU member states must provide "material reception conditions which ensure an adequate standard of living, whether through housing, financial aid, vouchers, or a combination of the three," the corresponding press release reads. "Those conditions must cover basic needs, including appropriate accommodation, and safeguard the physical and mental health of the persons concerned."
According to the ruling, these obligations are derived from the EU's binding Reception Conditions Directive from 2013 and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union from 2000.
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Precarious living conditions for asylum seekers
The lawsuit was filed by two asylum seekers -- an Afghan national and an Indian national -- who had to live in Ireland for several weeks under precarious conditions because they were denied the minimum benefits to which asylum seekers are entitled.
The two men each received only a voucher worth €25, they weren't provided housing and did not have enough to eat, according to their own statements, and were unable to maintain their hygiene, according to the court.
Without accommodation, the asylum seekers not only had to live on the streets or in homeless shelters, they also weren't eligible for the daily expenses allowance provided for by Irish law.
Covering basic needs is unalienable
The Irish authorities invoked force majeure, arguing that all accommodation capacities had been exhausted due to the large number of Ukrainian refugees living in Ireland at the time.
The European Court of Justice rejected this argument, saying that EU law stipulates that member states "must in any event cover the basic needs" of asylum seekers -- even if a large number third-country nationals arrives unforeseeably, overwhelming reception capacities.
The Luxembourg-based court also said that authorities didn't exhaust the option of individual temporary housing in Ireland.
Ireland could therefore have accommodated the two refugees elsewhere or provided them with money and vouchers to enable them to find accommodation, according to the judgment.