Asylum: Eurodac for the comparison fo fingerprints of applicants. Dublin Convention

OBJECTIVE: Presentation of a draft convention establishing a 'EURODAC' system to compare the fingerprints of asylum seekers. SUBSTANCE: the Dublin Convention Determining the State Responsible for Examining Applications for Asylum entered into force on 1 September 1997. This Convention seeks to guarantee to all asylum seekers that their applications will be considered by a Member State and prevent them from being sent to one Member State to another without any of the Member States concerned accepting responsibility for considering the application. For the Convention to work, it is essential to establish the identity of asylum seekers. With this in view the draft EURODAC convention seeks to complement the procedures under the Dublin Convention using a computerized system to compare the dactyloscopic records of asylum seekers, finger prints being a basic means of determining identity. The draft convention contains provisions regarding the protection of individuals in connection with the computer processing of personal data. �