A/HRC/29/36 asylum. The focus of the below section will be on the most pertinent developments since 2013. 1. Legal Dublin III 3. The Dublin system was updated in 2013 by two EU directives, which form part of the most recent asylum acquis. The Eurodac regulations (Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013), established a database system whereby migrants are fingerprinted in their country of origin to ensure they can be returned to the country in which their asylum claim should be processed under Dublin. Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 also updated the overall regulations governing the Dublin Regulations system. Following the passing of Dublin Regulation III and No. 603/2013, the recasted Dublin Regime came into force in January 2014. 4. The overall purpose of the updated regime is: to ensure that one Member State is responsible for the examination of an asylum application; to deter multiple asylum claims; to determine as quickly as possible the responsible Member State to ensure effective access to an asylum procedure; and to ensure procedural safeguards such as the right to information, personal interview, and access to remedies as well as a mechanism for early warning, preparedness and crisis management.8 5. Some new provisions are included which could potentially improve the protection of the rights of migrants, including restrictions on the use of detention when transferring a migrant between countries, respect for the unity of the family and a duty on states to inform migrants of the implications of being transferred between countries. Under the regime one member state is responsible for the examination of an asylum claim and the normal process is that the country the migrant arrives in processes an asylum application. However under the regulations migrants cannot be returned to the countries they originally entered to have their claims processed if there are systemic failings within the asylum system. 9 6. In addition, Dublin III introduces an early warning mechanism and aims to make it easier to detect problems in a member state’s asylum system so that the EU Commission and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) can provide early assistance before the situation degenerates. EU Regulation 656/2014 7. As a response to protection at sea challenges, EU regulation on surveillance of the external sea borders in the context of Frontex co-operation was adopted in May 2014 and entered into force in July. It sets out rules for the interception of vessels during joint operations at sea, including for SAR situations and the disembarkation of intercepted or rescued people. The aim of the new Regulation is to resolve confusion over diverging national interpretations of international provisions on maritime surveillance by setting out clear rules to be laid out in Frontex operational plans and followed during Frontex joint operations.10 8. According to the regulation, if during a joint operation there is reason to believe that a vessel or persons on board are in an emergency situation, the maritime and aerial assets must contact the responsible Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC); they must transmit all 8 9 10 26 Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, 2014, “ Information sheet, Dublin III”. UNHCR, 2014, “The Dublin Regulation”. Amnesty International, 2014, “Lives adrift: Refugees and migrants in peril in the central Mediterranean”.