Nigeria as a Safe Country of Origin? - On the Production and (Mis)Use of Country of Origin Information

Abstract

On May 7th 2024 Italy updated its list of safe countries of origin (SCO) for the second time after the introduction of the notion in the national legal system in 2019. Notably, the latest update retained the most contentious addition to the list from last year, Nigeria. Until then, only Cyprus considered Nigeria as generally safe. The legal issues underlying this designation illustrate how country of origin information (COI), largely provided to Member States by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), is (mis)used to produce policy-based evidence rather than evidence-based policies.

Keywords

• Asylum Procedure Regulation
• Asylum Proceedings
• European Union Agency for Asylum
• Italy
• nigeria
• safe country of origin