A bill has been submitted to parliament which would increase the Directorate of Immigration’s budget by 100 million ISK, in order to better process asylum seeker applications.
The directorate has been reporting for some time that they are overworked, understaffed, and using a strained budget. Processing of asylum seeker applications has suffered a great deal because of this, especially as these applications are on the rise. This has left many asylum seekers frustrated, as they wait for a decision on whether they will be allowed to stay in Iceland, or be deported.
RÚV now reports that a bill has been submitted which would add an additional 100 million ISK to the directorate’s budget, earmarked specifically for handling asylum seeker applications. Part of this money would be used to hire two additional lawyers to work on asylum seeker applications. It is estimated that each lawyer could work through an additional 25 to 50 applications each year.
A final vote on the matter has yet to be taken at the time of this writing.
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