Annual report and financial accounts for the year ending 31[st] December 2022
www.asylos.eu
Completed 72 Country of Origin Information (COI) research reports for use in individual asylum and human rights cases in 46 countries
Reviewed 2 UK Home Office Country Policy and Information Notes (CPINs) covering the situation in Rwanda and published a commentary and a COI compilation on the same topic
Reviewed 42 CPINs published by the UK Home Office for use in asylum decisions
Published 53 editions of our emergency COI repositories on Afghanistan and Ukraine, and on Afghan asylum seekers in Pakistan, Turkey and Iran.
10,778 unique downloads of our reports, repositories and commentaries
90% of lawyers who gave feedback on the COI research report they requested said that our research provided them with information they did not already have
Highlights from 2022
Successfully transitioned ARC Foundation's projects and work over to Asylos to create a single centre of COI expertise in the UK
Published 1 disability focused COI report + good practice guidelines + a research training handbook
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Content
Who we are 04
Messa e from the Director 05
g
What we do 06
Achievements and Performance in 2022 09
© Frontcover image: UNHCR Structure, Governance and Management 25
All images (except p.24):
© Lisa de Bruin for Asylos.
Financial Review 27
Images on p.24: © Joseph Blackmoore,
Rongpangmenla Longchar, Misha Nayak-
Oliver, Aleena Khan.
All icons: © Noun Project /
thenounproject.com
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Asylos Annual Report 2022
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Who we are
Our Vision
Asylos is an international network of over 60 volunteers who provide highquality human rights research and documentation to people claiming asylum and their representatives around the world. This Country of Origin Information (COI) is essential to corroborate the testimony of individuals fleeing persecution, and often makes the difference between winning or losing a case.
A world in which all asylum decisions are based on fair process and accurate information.
Access to information
Use of information
Absence of prejudice
Societal Awareness
Organisational stability
Country of Origin Information (COI) is accessible to all who need it. People seeking asylum and their legal counsel have access to relevant, timely and highquality information to substantiate their claims.
The asylum procedure is The asylum procedure There is broad Asylos is sustainable and always evidence-based. is always unbiased. recognition within host fit to deliver its mission. Relevant, timely and Processes involving societies of the importance This includes financial high-quality Country people seeking asylum are of high-quality Country of stability and a participatory of Origin Information conducted in a fair and Origin Information (COI) organisational structure. (COI) is considered in impartial manner with in the asylum procedure. every asylum decision. no room for assumptions or preconceptions.
We are a charity Asylos is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered with the Charities Commission for England and
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Message from the Director
Dear friends and supporters,
Asylos was established in 2010 because our founders had experienced first-hand that a single piece of information can make or break an asylum case. Claims for asylum and other forms of protection are often won or lost on the facts. Asylum lawyers need to establish their clients’ wellfounded fear of persecution, and this may require very specific information. However, it is nearly impossible for asylum lawyers who are time and resource-pressed to establish such information, especially when supporting a wide range of clients from diverse backgrounds.
Asylos provides a bespoke Country of Origin Information (COI) research service for lawyers and NGOs who represent people seeking asylum worldwide. We leverage our team of over 60 volunteer researchers with networks in countries of origin who can collectively conduct research in 45 languages.
Sophie Kloos Director Asylos
2022 was a particularly meaningful year for Asylos. Through a project transfer and subsequent closure of our long-term project partner, Asylum Research Centre Foundation, we have made significant progress towards the creation of a single centre of expertise on COI in the UK and beyond. As part of the transfer, we have broadened our portfolio of activities to include quality review of COI that is published by governments and intergovernmental organisations.
In 2022, we have seen thousands of people receive access to a fairer asylum procedure as a result of better access to relevant COI. At the same time, political efforts in the UK to make asylum claims inadmissible, detain and forcibly remove migrants to third countries, have continued to erode the fundamental right to claim asylum and to receive a fair and evidence-based procedure. Asylos’ vision is a world in which all asylum decisions are based on fair process and accurate information, and we will continue to stand up for our vision and defend the right to asylum.
We thank all of you who supported and enabled our work in 2022 and who stand in solidarity with those who require international protection.
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What we do
Capacity building
We train volunteer researchers, lawyers and NGO representatives on researching and using Country of Origin Information to represent their clients with better evidence, leading to fairer decision making on asylum claims.
Consistently fill COI gaps
Our research investigates human rights violations in specific countries or deals with specific facts relating to the claimant’s testimony. Our reports are free of charge and compiled on demand for asylum lawyers and NGOs who assist people fleeing persecution and grave threats with their claim for protection. In addition, we publish larger thematic research reports which fill information gaps.
Accessibility of high-quality COI
We administer a growing database of research reports and constantly invest in growing its audience and improving its functions. The database is accessible to anyone supporting people seeking asylum worldwide. Through outreach online and offline, we aim to ensure that our research can support as many people seeking asylum as possible.
Emergency response
We spot and respond to fastchanging emergencies that significantly impact migration patterns and increase the need for evidence across the migration sector.
Asylos' role in the sector
We conduct outreach and conversations with key COI actors, primarily in the EU and the UK, to ensure effective exchange of knowledge and research insights.
Monitor government COI
We review COI products published by the UK Home Office and the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) and make recommendations for how they could be improved, thereby raising the quality of information that decision-makers rely on when deciding whether to grant individuals protection.
Organisational resilience
We will ensure that Asylos’ staff
and governance structures remain healthy, invest in the cohesion of the network, and further develop safeguarding policies and procedures.
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Achievements and Performance in 2022
We continued to produce and provide new COI research reports
Consistently fill COI gaps
The reports we produced were used at the following stages of the asylum procedure:
The completed reports were split Age breakdown as follows between our regional of asylum applicants: volunteer research teams:
Reports produced in 2022 covered questions on:
-
 Social group e.g. sexual orientation (28%)
-
 National – local governance practices (28%)
-
 Domestic security (17%)
-
 Gender (14%)
-
 Political opposition (8%)
-
 Civil status (5%).
Asia – 9 = 12% Africa – 22 = 31% Americas – 14 = 19% Russia / CIS – 10 = 14% MENA – 17 = 24%
-
 Initial administrative application (22%)
-
 First Appeal (26%)
-
 Second or subsequent appeal (8%)
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 Further submission/fresh
claim (21%) Asia
12%
Africa
 22% of reports produced 31%
Russia /
were not applicable or used
CIS 14%
in other procedures such as
statelessness, Article 8 and
Article 3 claims. Americas
MENA
19%
24%
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10% under 18 43% 18-30 47% above 30
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10%
< 18
47%
> 30 43%
18 to 30
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We continued to produce and provide new COI research reports
Consistently fill COI gaps
The top four countries for research requests were:
 Sudan  Ethiopia  Georgia  Bangladesh.
Our referrers support their clients either:
-
 through legal aid (32%)
-
 on a pro bono basis (11%)
-
 through charity funding (31%)
-
 financed by the client (14%)
-
 or through other means (11%).
Research requests came from 13 host countries:
This underlines the value and importance of Asylos providing COI reports free of charge.
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UK – 30
France – 22 Pro bono
USA – 11
Malta – 7 Charity 11%
Belgium – 6
31% Other
Canada – 4
11%
Serbia – 3
New Zealand – 2
Bangladesh – 1
14%
Greece – 1
32% Client
Morocco – 1
Trinidad and Tobago – 1
Legal aid
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
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We tracked the impact of our work
We continued to monitor the impact of our reports in order to further develop and refine our work. Our feedback collection has a time lag of at least one year, given the time it typically takes between a research request to Asylos and the actual date of the respective decision. We collect feedback on a quarterly basis and aggregate it once a year. In 2022, we continued to receive feedback on research reports that were requested in 2020 as well as gathered feedback on reports from 2021.
In total, for 2020 and 2021, we were able to obtain feedback on 49% of respective reports produced. In the 128 cases over this two-year period:
-
 For 90% of the feedback collected, requestors said that our research provided them with information they did not already have before.
-
 Where a case has received an outcome, 54% of them were successful. 43% of the feedback
-
stated the cases were still pending.
Consistently fill COI gaps
Lega ~~l~~ Pract ~~i~~ ce Lea ~~d~~
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We tracked the impact of our work
Asylum story
In the Spotlight
In July 2021, Asylos received a bespoke research request on Forced Child Labor and Exploitation in Ethiopia by caseworker Alice Giuliato, representing the family reunion case of Anaya* before the UK Home Office. Anaya is an Ethiopian woman granted refugee status in the UK.
Anaya fled Ethiopia in 2016, after being detained and sexually abused for participating in demonstrations against the Ethiopian government, which at the time was planning to evict Oromo people from their land. Anaya had six siblings left in Ethiopia. Two sisters were detained with her, but have never been found since, and four others, all minors are still living between Oromia and Addis Ababa. After the death of both their parents, Anaya’s four younger siblings were left with no caregiver. They were staying at a family friend’s house, in which they were taken out of school and forced into labour. The children were in a very vulnerable state.
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Consistently
fill COI gaps
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On the basis of these arguments, Alice decided to request a bespoke research report from Asylos which looks into state support for children in Ethiopia. The Asylos report was intended to review the publicly available information about the government’s means to maintain law and order, and provide support for children.
The Asylos report found evidence indicating that despite Article 36 of the Ethiopian Constitution and the international treaties and conventions that Ethiopia ratified for child protection, in practice, there is limited capacity to reach out and prevent child protection issues. In the appeal, Alice based most of her arguments on the sources presented in the Asylos report.
After the appeal, the UK Home Office withdrew their decision, and granted all four siblings their visas to the UK, and Anaya and her siblings were reunited.
The UK Home office initially rejected Anaya’s request for family reunification, considering that her claims of abuse were not suabstantiated, that Article 36 of the Ethiopian Constitution stipulates that children have the right to not be subjected to exploitative practices, the right to not to perform work that may be hazardous to their education or wellbeing.
They also considered that the Ethiopian police has the means of maintaining law and order in the country and that therefore the children could rely on the government for support.
* Name changed and other identifiable characteristics removed
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We continued our thematic research
We conducted a mapping exercise and stakeholder survey to determine which COI gaps for people claiming asylum are the most urgent, and consequently, which thematic COI reports have the potential to benefit a large number of individuals who are susceptible to poor decision-making. Our thematic reports fill COI gaps by combining publicly available information with new information obtained from interviewing individuals with firsthand knowledge of the subject or recent knowledge of the country being researched.
Consistently fill COI gaps
Disability COI
In February 2022, we delivered a launch event to share findings from a joint project between Asylos and the Asylum Research Centre (ARC) Foundation about Country of Origin Information for persons with disabilities. The launch event was co-hosted by Garden Court Chambers. During the event, we presented our thematic report, “ Nigeria: Children and Young people with disabilities ”, as well as findings from a rapid review of COI sources. We introduced models and understandings of disability, our “ Principles for Conducting COI research on Disability” and presented a review of the legal context for international protection claims for persons with disabilities.
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“
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Islington Law Centre, UK
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We continued our thematic research
Statelessness
In the Spotlight
In the first quarter of 2022, during a scoping exercise aimed at legal representatives and charities in the UK, Asylos became aware of the absence of relevant County of Origin Information (COI) about stateless persons and simultaneously, the low awareness of statelessness issues in the immigration and asylum legal sector.
Following a number of consultations with experts on the topic of statelessness, we embarked on a project to address information gaps about stateless persons who are seeking international protection and stateless status. With recommendations from these consultations, we identified and set up a steering committee made up of five highly qualified sector professionals to provide strategic advice and expert input to guide the project, based on lived experience of statelessness and/or relevant professional expertise. We also sourced and trained six volunteer researchers from our network, who conducted the COI desk research in four different languages (namely English, French, Dutch and Arabic).
Consistently fill COI gaps
or to stateless persons, in addition to lacking domestic legislation that ensures protection for those who are stateless, at risk of becoming stateless, or vulnerable to outcomes similar to those of stateless persons.
In 2023 we will publish a COI report “ Lebanon, Stateless Palestinians ” and “ Principles for Conducting Country of Origin Information Research on Statelessness ” which will enable practitioners to build their own capacity for statelessness COI research.
We conducted in-depth interviews with five stakeholders, academics and practitioners whom we had identified as having current knowledge on the situation of stateless Palestinians in Lebanon. Together, these sources painted a troubling picture of the situation for stateless and undocumented Palestinians in Lebanon.
Sources highlighted the various forms and layers of discrimination perpetrated by state actors as well as within communities and families. This includes their rights as stateless persons, which are set out in international agreements; notably, Lebanon is not a party to international treaties that define and require states to provide protection to refugees who are stateless
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We continued to respond to emergency COI needs
2022 saw fast-changing and concerning political situations in the UK and internationally that shaped migration patterns and opened up urgent needs for COI. We were able to respond at short notice at times requiring quick pivoting, decision-making and actioning of new projects and publications to respond to these needs.
The emergency work aimed to identify gaps in COI to address by compiling and regularly updating information, widely disseminating it to be used for both individual claims for asylum and for broader impact including policy and strategic litigation.
In order to fulfil the expanding needs of this project, in 2022 we appointed a consultant who led an emergency team made up of 48 people, of which:
-
 14 were trainee solicitors from Clifford Chance and
-
 34 were new volunteer researchers.
The volunteer researchers brought a wealth of expertise including language skills and contacts on the ground in:
Emergency response
The COI Repositories
The team produced five Emergency COI Repositories:
-
We provided an ongoing response to the needs emerging from the geopolitical situation in Afghanistan by publishing weekly updates to our Afghanistan COI Repository. 53 editions were published in total, covering a wide range of topics in line with demand from legal practitioners.Topics included the availability and accessibility of marriage certificates in Afghanistan, and human rights defenders working on disability rights in Afghanistan.
-
We produced three other repositories on the situation of Afghan asylum-seekers in Pakistan , Turkey and Iran . Topics included:
-
 The availability and accessibility of tuberculosis testing in Pakistan
-
 The availability and accessibility of public and private clinics for DNA testing for people claiming asylum in Iran and the availability and
-
 Accessibility of medical care for Afghan asylum seekers in Turkey.
-
-
 Afghanistan
-
 Pakistan
-
 Iran and
-
In response to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, we launched a new Repository about the situation of stateless and at risk of statelessness individuals from Ukraine in April 2022.
-
 Turkey.
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We continued to respond to emergency COI needs
Dissemination
Emergency response
In order to get the information to the people and stakeholders who needed it the most we:
-
 shared each update with: a new mailing list of subscribers, an online legal network of 10,000 international lawyers, external Google groups and UKbased solicitors, barristers and OISC advisors working on refugee rights;
-
 worked with the local researchers to map experts and actors on the ground; and
-
 convened, with the support from the Justice Together Initiative and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, online events with lawyers, human rights officers and other stakeholders:
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May 2022: situation of Afghan nationals in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Speakers included the Society for Human Rights and Prisoners (SHARP) in Pakistan, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) and the Afghan Pro Bono Initiative – 32 attendees.
-
July 2022: launch of the Ukraine Statelessness Repository – 27 attendees.
Reach
The Emergency COI Repositories provided high-quality research for lawyers working on strategic litigation, for example, legal actions seeking to evacuate Afghan female judges from Afghanistan to the UK, and were used by civil society organisations and coalitions involved in campaigns and advocacy work. Our Ukraine COI Repository was disseminated to over 170 organisations and individuals working on statelessness across Europe. One particular NGO in the Czech Republic used it in their daily work of their lawyers counselling Ukrainian refugees and working on strategic litigation to change Czech laws which do not provide protection for stateless people.
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We monitored and sought to improve the quality of COI products produced by governmental and intergovernmental organisations
Decision-makers often rely on COI produced by governmental and intergovernmental organisations to give a concise overview of the facts in relation to specific demographic groups at risk of persecution or other harm. This COI is used to assist government officials in making international protection decisions.
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Monitor
government
COI
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Recognising their importance, in 2022 we started a new strand of essential work following the project transfer from the ARC Foundation. This project shines a spotlight on COI produced by governmental and intergovernmental organisations, and seeks to raise the bar of quality asylum decisions by highlighting gaps and shortcomings, and signposting additional COI that can help legal representatives to build a more full and balanced picture of country conditions.
We reviewed 42 UK Home Office Country Policy and Information Notes (CPINs), making recommendations for how these reports could be improved.
We reviewed and publicly commented on two UK Home Office CPINs covering the situation in Rwanda and published a COI compilation on the same topic .
We published two commentaries in partnership with the Dutch Council for Refugees on EUAA (European Union Agency for Asylum): Query Responses on Russia, covering the treatment of protesters, journalists and human rights defenders and military deserters by the authorities since the invasion of Ukraine.
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We monitored and sought to improve the quality of COI products produced by governmental and intergovernmental organisations
UK policy on Rwanda
In April 2022, the UK government announced a new UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership Agreement which would see people who are deemed to have arrived in the UK through illegal means, including those fleeing persecution and war, relocated to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed there.
A publicly available commentary and complementary COI report was produced in response to the publication of a suite of CPINs on Rwanda by the UK Home Office. The Home Office produced the CPINs in order to assist them in assessing whether Rwanda could be classified as a ‘safe third country of asylum’, and whether persons of particular profiles relocated to Rwanda would face a real risk of being subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Our reports identified gaps and omissions in the Home Office publication and provided additional relevant COI on the issues identified.
Reach
The commentary on the Rwanda CPINs received a lot of positive feedback from lawyers and NGOs, in particular how useful the published COI report on the Rwandan asylum system was. It also formed the basis for Asylos’ submission to a House of Lords inquiry into the Memorandum of Understanding that underpins the UK-Rwanda asylum partnership arrangement. In December 2022, Asylos presented the findings of its commentary on the CPINs to colleagues working in Refugee Services at the British Red Cross.
The commentary received coverage in national and specialist news outlets, including the Guardian , the Byline Times (" Home Office Rwanda Plan Accused of Being 'Fundamentally Flawed " and " The Human Rights Gaps in the Rwanda Scheme Revealed "), and Free Movement (specialist immigration law publication).
In the Spotlight
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asylum and public law solicitor
on Human Trafficking and
Modern Slavery
"This detailed and balanced report
exposes huge gaps in the official Home
Office assessment of Rwanda, lack of
evidence to support the conclusions
reached and highly selective quoting
of some sources of information. The
picture that emerges is of a retrospective
attempt to justify a political decision
already made by ministers.”
Colin Yeo, Free Movement
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We created additional COI research capacity
We recruited and trained new and existing Asylos volunteers
In 2022, we recruited 46 new volunteers. We moved to an annual volunteer recruitment model and, in addition, we actively recruited additional volunteers to support the increase in volume of emergency research work required. In 2022, the network consisted of a total of 64 active volunteers regularly carrying out research.
Existing Asylos volunteers completed their annual refresher training of the core training modules including:
-
 Assessing and Selecting Source Material
-
 Writing the Report.
New volunteers completed the core training modules and a test research report. When required for specific cases, volunteer researchers also completed the annually refreshed thematic training modules:
-
 COI for Children and Young People
-
 Medical COI
-
 Private and Family Life
-
 COI for cases involving Disability.
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Capacity
building
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We created additional COI research capacity
We invested in developing our research tools and standards
Capacity building
The thematic work on disabilities and the “ Nigeria: Children and Young People with Disabilities ” report in particular was the foundation from which we built our Principles Document and Training Handbook . From this we designed and delivered webinars for external stakeholders and launched a new disability thematic training module specifically for Asylos volunteers providing advice and guidance for conducting COI research on cases that involve people with disabilities. In addition, we made the Principles document and the Handbook available on our website, and they were downloaded a total of 59 times in 2022.
We delivered COI training webinars
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“Gaining insight into the breadth
of issues in asylum claims by
people with disabilities or family
members with disabilities and
breaking down the various
aspects of a claim to research;
the overview of different models
of disability and terminology
were all very helpful.”
Training participant
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In partnership with ARC Foundation, in 2022, we delivered 6 training session webinars for legal representatives and other people working to support people claiming asylum in the UK and beyond. Two sessions covered Country of Origin Information fundamentals and four sessions covered researching information for asylum claims involving disability .
In total 90 people attended our training; 56 were from the UK, 35 of whom were from so-called Legal Aid ‘deserts’.
100% of participants stated that as a result of the workshop, they felt more confident in researching and using COI, and 90% rated the training as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’.
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We made our resources more accessible
Downloads of reports
Accessibility of high-quality COI
All our research is made available to registered lawyers and other individuals representing people claiming asylum in our database on our website. Information in COI reports that are produced for an individual asylum claim can frequently apply to many other people seeking asylum.
- Â In 2022, our case-specific research reports were downloaded 1,362 unique times from our website, a 21% increase on 2021.
Research reports downloads
- Â 3,222 subscribers (lawyers, caseworkers, NGOs) receive our monthly research updates including newly produced reports. This represents a 15% increase from 2021.
Thematic reports (produced in 2021), the emergency repositories and the commentaries were made available for download from our website and externally on the European Country of Origin Information Network and were downloaded a total of 9,416 times.
Overall, Asylos' research publications (repositories, case-specific, thematic reports and commentaries) were downloaded 10,778 times in 2022. Together with the number of individual COI research reports produced, it gives an approximate indication of how many people have been helped by Asylos’ research. Our assumption is that one unique download represents a use in approximately one case, knowing that some downloads will not lead to a use, whereas other downloads may lead to several uses.
67%
In 2022, Asylos helped approximately 10,852 people claiming asylum
Monthly research update downloads
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We made our resources more accessible
Our thematic and emergency reports were downloaded a total of 9,416 times.
Accessibility of high-quality COI
Number of downloads: Emergency response work Afghanistan COI Repository – 2,826 Ukraine, Statelessness COI Repository – 206 Afghan asylum seekers in Pakistan – 308 Afghan asylum seekers in Turkey – 28 Afghan asylum seekers in Iran – 51
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2,826 206 308 28 51
1,584 1,976 1,051 832
Rwanda asylum system – 428
66 60 428
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Number of downloads: Thematic reports
Albania, trafficked boys and young men (2019) – 1,584 Ghana, state treatment of LGBTQI persons (2021) – 1,976 Afghanistan, young male “westerninsed” returnees to Kabul (2017) – 1,051 Nigeria, children and young People with disabilities (2021) – 832
Number of downloads: Commentaries
Russia Federation, treatment of protesters, journalists, human rights defenders – 66 Russia Federation, treatment of military deserters – 60 Rwanda asylum system – 428
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We made our resources more accessible
Website
Accessibility of high-quality COI
We saw a significant increase in website traffic in 2022.
-
27,691 visitors to our main website compared to 18,474 in 2021
-
50,772 visitors to our database of research reports compared to 3,829 in 2021
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49%
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27,691 website visitors in 2022 (18,474 in 2021)
1226%
50,772 visitors to our research reports database in 2022 (3,829 in 2021)
Social media
We continued to increase the number of followers on social media to the following totals:
-
2,245 on LinkedIn
-
3,581 on Facebook
-
3,860 on Twitter
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2,245 3,581 3,860
followers by followers by followers by
end of 2022 end of 2022 end of 2022
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News and blog posts
We raised awareness of our work through two blog posts which we published on our website: “ Five Tips for Disability-focused COI research “ and “ Why declaring Rwanda a safe third country of Asylum is incoherent with available country information ”.
Furthermore, we published 13 news items on our website to keep our members, beneficiaries and supporters up-to-date on our work.
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We strengthened Asylos’ place in the sector
We completed a project transfer from ARC Foundation
In 2021, we ambitiously aimed to become the lead expert on Country of Origin Information (COI) in the UK and beyond. Thanks to a project transfer from our previous project partner, ARC Foundation, this has now become a reality. Our aim was to consolidate our work under one organisation in order to improve our efficiency, increase our capacity to address sector need, and reduce competition for funding. The work that was formerly done by ARC Foundation was transferred to Asylos at the start of 2022. We secured funding for this new strand of work from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Justice Together Initiative and the Trust for London, and were then able to recruit two new members of staff.
Steering committees
Following on from our thematic report on disability, we set up a steering committee for the Statelessness thematic project which enabled us to work with new partners, particularly experts in statelessness. For all future thematic work we will use the same format and create a committee bringing subject experts together to use their expertise to steer the project, ensure it does not duplicate, to peer review and disseminate, and help ensure our work remains accurate and relevant.
We set up and are the chair of a COI Experts Network
The members of the COI Experts Network include senior representation and COI experts from the UNHCR, ACCORD, the Danish Refugee Council, the Dutch Refugee Council, the Swiss Refugee Council, the Asylum Protection Centre Serbia, and Asilo in Europa in Italy. We formed this group following requests from within the sector for an NGO group specifically focusing on COI. The launch meeting was in July 2022.
Asylos' role in the sector
Other partnerships
We started working with the European Network on Statelessness (ENS) early in 2022, and the partnership further developed whilst scoping for our new thematic topic.
Senior staff at ENS were involved at the start and throughout this project including recommending and making introductions to potential Steering Committee members, being an active member of the Steering Committee themselves and reviewing the work. The ENS have also invited Asylos to present the findings of the report at their member event in Madrid in 2023.
We continue to rely on close working relationships with law firms, NGOs and law chambers to receive requests for individual COI research reports for asylum seekers. In 2022, we received requests from 47 different organisations, 39 of which were not for profit.
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“I am so glad that Asylos brought to life
the COI-Expert group, which connects
me with fellow COI experts. It is such
a useful space to share our mutual
challenges, ideas and work.”
Stephanie Huber
ARC Representative
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Asylos Annual Report 2022
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We continued to strengthen our governance, advisory structures and volunteer network
Organisational resilience
In 2022, we held a total of 11 network-wide calls, 5 board meetings and 3 fundraising sub-committee meetings. We held a two-day coordination meeting in May and one All Asylos Conference in October.
Our volunteer network
Volunteers are the heart and soul of Asylos. In order to conduct thorough and impactful research on COI cases, we prioritise researchers with an understanding of the countries and demographics that are being researched. Thus, we have built a network of highly skilled research volunteers who are spread out across the world and can conduct research on regions of high pertinence to them – either through lived experience or interest and expertise. Due to the unpredictable nature of global asylum trends, it is difficult to predict a steady stream of research requests and, it is therefore our greatest advantage to work with dedicated and motivated volunteers who can be called upon when needed, but do not have to establish rigid schedules for their Asylos work.
Misha Nayak-Oliver
(Central and South Americas team Co-ordinator and Emergency COI Repository Coordinator)
Rongpangmenla Longchar (Asia team)
Joseph Blackmoore (Americas team)
“I hope to collaborate with like-minded “I hope to represent people who belong colleagues to use human rights and the to minority communities like mine law to support individuals and groups through my COI research work, and get in upholding their rights. The impact of hands on experience to learn and grow our COI reports and decision-making further in the field of refugee and asylum processes across the world reflect the rights.” critical importance of our work.”
“During my time at Asylos, I hope the research I contribute to will help support the asylum claims of as many refugees as possible so that they can enjoy the same rights everyone is entitled to.”
Aleena Khan (Asia team)
“Refugee and asylum rights are important first and foremost because human rights are important in every context. More specifically, the rights of refugees and asylum seekers are often overlooked or undervalued by policy makers and politicians, which makes it that much more important for us as a community to support each other. I believe the world and the right to thrive within it belongs to us all; therefore, no person should be punished or persecuted for their nationality, religion, sexuality, gender identity. During my time with Asylos, I hope to support as many cases as I possibly can…. I hope to further understand my strengths as a researcher and my specific interests within the field of human rights and social justice.”
Asylos Annual Report 2022
23
We continued to strengthen our governance, advisory structures and volunteer network
Organisational resilience
Volunteer co-ordinators
Asylos’ staff members work closely with the volunteer coordination team, comprising Asylos' 12 regional research coordinators (up to three per team) for Africa, Americas, Asia, MENA and the Russia/CIS team. Each coordinator oversees the work of the volunteer researchers in the respective team and contributes to the strategic development of the network and its functions.
Our annual coordination meeting took place in-person in Amsterdam on the weekend of 21-22 May with nine volunteers attending. The agenda included round table discussions, presentations, process reviews with the aim of sharing best practice, and improving processes and quality of the work.
The conference proved to be a powerful, enlightening experience, said one volunteer who found Asylos to be “a compass, a community and a home.”
Another volunteer also noted during one of the interactive sessions that the conference made them feel that “Asylos is an organisation that has managed to unite some of the most dedicated and passionate people from across the world. To find so many people with hectic lives who put aside the time to work on such a great cause proves that Asylos is an organisation that is made up of commitment and love.”
One attendee said: “The coordination was a wonderful opportunity to meet in person, exchange thoughts and experiences and to find ways to continue building Asylos together. For the attendees this in-person meeting was crucial in order to get fully up to speed with the many developments at Asylos since our last meeting.”
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“For me, it was particularly
exciting to actually meet
teammates and others in the
network in person.
I came back with so many
practical takeaways and new
relationships, so I'm very
grateful to have been able to
attend the conference.”
Tanya Koshy
Asylos – Asia Team
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All Asylos Conference
In October of 2022, Asylos held its first in-person All Asylos Conference since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference took place over three days, just outside of Amsterdam, and was attended by 38 members of the Asylos network. Some of our members travelled from as far away as India, Brazil, and Canada to take part. Many others came from across Europe, whilst some members dialled in online.
Over the course of the conference, we hosted a multitude of interactive sessions on topics such as our multi-annual strategy, fundraising opportunities, network cohesion and volunteer empowerment. Each session finished with the creation of concrete action points for both the staff team and the volunteers to work on, in order to improve the functioning of the organisation.
Asylos Annual Report 2022
24
Structure, Governance and Management
Organisational resilience
Asylos is an international non-governmental organisation established in 2010. Its original constitution is dated July 29, 2014 and was amended on May 19, 2020. It is registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation with the Charity Commission of England and Wales. The constitution defines the charity’s objects as:
‘‘The promotion of human rights law as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent United Nations or regional conventions and declarations, and in national law. In pursuing this object, Asylos will focus on the advancement of human rights law with respect to people seeking asylum and stateless people in the UK and elsewhere.’’
When new trustees are appointed, they are given a formal induction to the work of the charity and provided with the information they need to fulfil their roles, which includes information about the role of trustees, charity law and safeguarding. New trustees are nominated by the Board of Trustees, and appointed where they have the necessary skills to contribute to the charity’s management and development.
Advisory Committee
Since 2012, Asylos has benefitted from an Advisory Committee to advise on research priorities and to support fundraising. The members are:
Our trustees
The constitution allows for up to 12 trustees to be appointed. Trustees serve for renewable terms of three years, with the exception of the founding trustees, who served for renewable terms of four years. Trustees can serve until they either resign or their term ends without renewal. None of our trustees were remunerated for their trusteeship aside from expenses. Our trustees are responsible for setting the strategy and are responsible in law for the running of Asylos. All trustees, except where otherwise stated, served for the whole year:
Katharina Natter (Chair since October 2022)
Anna Magyarlaki (Vice-Chair since October 2022)
Phil Arnold
Alexandra Dufresne (Chair until October 2022, now regular Board member)
Stephanie Huber (appointed in March 2022) Dick Oosting
Diamantoula Vlantoni
Liz Williams
Julia Vonk (appointed in October 2022) Mira Wolf-Bauwens (left the Board in July 2022)
Thomas Klau (Chair of the Advisory Committee, co-founder of Asylos and editor of Eurointelligence)
Franziska Brantner (member of the German Bundestag, relinquished her duties as Advisory Committee member in 2022)
Géraud de Geouffre de la Pradelle (President of the Citizen’s Enquiry Commission on France’s role in Rwanda and a Patron of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine)
Gunnar Lund (former Ambassador of Sweden to France, the US and the EU)
Anila Noor (Refugee activist based in the Netherlands)
Salim Salamah (Activist focusing on the issue of statelessness among the Syrian-Palestinian population)
Satya Staes Polet (lawyer in a leading international law firm)
Nick Witney (senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations)
Colin Yeo (Founder and Editor of the Free Movement blog; barrister at Garden Court Chambers)
Asylos Annual Report 2022
25
Staff
At the end of 2022, Asylos had five staff members (two full-time and three part-time), of which four are based in the Netherlands and one in the UK.
Organisational resilience
In 2022, we appointed the following people:
Emily Wilbourn – Programme Manager. New post from January 2022. Fatima Ali – Programme Manager. New post from January 2022.
Laurence Hamieh – Operations Assistant. New post from August part time. Patrick Annez de Taboada – Network Co-ordinator. Replacement from October.
Misha Nayak-Oliver – part-time consultant leading the emergency work. Anna Magyarlaki – Interim fundraising consultant. September 2022 to January 2023.
Sally Marsh – Senior Fundraiser. To start January 2023.
Asylos’ Director, Sophie Kloos , is responsible for the strategic management of the organisation, and the daily coordination and delegation of all Asylosrelated tasks. The Programme Managers job share and fulfil all the work to do with thematic research, reviews of governmental COI and training. The Network Coordinator coordinates and supports the volunteers. The Operations Assistant runs our communications and supports the team. The Fundraiser raises funds and carries out the monitoring and evaluation function for Asylos.
Supported by our funding partners
Sigrid Rausing Trust AB Charitable Trust Paul Hamlyn Foundation Haella Foundation Souter Trust Allen Lane Foundation Evan Cornish Foundation Hilden Charitable Fund Leathersellers’ Company Charitable Fund
Asylos Annual Report 2022
26
Financial Review
During the year, the net funds raised from the general public, philanthropies, and trusts and foundations was EUR 289,000. Trusts and foundations are our biggest source of income and, in total, we raised a net income of EUR 275,000 from this source. We accrued EUR 162,000 from the previous year. Our total expenses in 2022 amounted to EUR 342,000.
As shown in the restricted funds column in the Statement of Financial Activities, restrictive income was EUR 73,000 which was raised for particular programmes or to be spent within a set time frame.
At the end of 2022, Asylos had EUR 34,629 in reserves. This represents 1.2 months of expenditure on charitable activities. It is the trustees’ view that the charity ideally needs about three months’ worth of expenditure to cover emergency situations and prevent disruptions to programmes. We will therefore aim to build further reserves over time.
Restricted funds and unrestricted funds that are earmarked to be spent in a certain time frame are not included in the trustees’ view of reserve needs because these funds are held by the charity for only as long as is necessary to organise the relevant activities. Normally these funds are spent within one year of receipt.
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INCOME Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds 2021
Paul Hamlyn Foundation €95,031 €95,031 €104,302
Sigrid Rausing Trust €69,535 €69,535 €69,535
AB Charitable Trust €23,178 €23,178 €23,178
Dutch private donor €15,000 €15,000 €15,000
Haella Foundation €5,000
Allen Lane Foundation €11,589
Leathersellers' Company Charitable Trust €1,738
Austrian Private Philantrhropist €20,000
Evan Cornish Foundation €5,795
Souter Trust €3,477 €3,477 €4,634
Oak Foundation €8,692
Hilden Charitable Trust €5,795 €5,795
Justice Together Initiative €48,897 €48,897
Trust for London €14,486 €14,486
Clifford Chance €11,589 €11,589
Other donations €1,993 €1,993 €2,197
Interest and other €223 €223 €11
TOTAL GROSS INCOME €216.550 €72,655 €289,205 €271,671
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Asylos Annual Report 2022
27
Financial Review
EXPENDITURE
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Payments Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds 2021
Network coordination €94,788 €72,057 €166,845 €104,052
Volunteer meetings €0 €33,841 €33,841 €218
€16,465 €16,465 €12,822
Office costs
(UK) Project costs €9,563 €106,345 €115,908 €43,777
Governance and development €8,847 €8,847 €5,195
TOTAL PAYMENTS €129,662 €212,243 €341,905 €166,064
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NET RECEIPTS/PAYMENTS
----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds 2021
Net of receipts/payments €86,888 €139,588 €52,700 €105,607
Transfer between funds
Cash funds last year end €22,862 €139,588 €162,450 €56,844
TOTAL CASH FUNDS €109,750 €0 €109,750 €162,451
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CASH FUNDS
----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted funds
BNP Paribas (Belgium) €11,737
Transfer between funds €98,013
TOTAL CASH FUNDS €109,750
----- End of picture text -----
We focused on fundraising
We held quarterly finance and fundraising sub-committee meetings with a subgroup of the Board, the Director and the Fundraiser to monitor progress and ensure financial stability.
We confirmed grants with several new funders:
-
Clifford Chance
-
Justice Together Initiative
-
Trust for London
-
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation made an additional grant to us for our emergency work.
We raised EUR 1,993 in individual donations.
Asylos Annual Report 2022
28
Declaration
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom accounting standards. The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.
The trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the charity and enable them to ascertain to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulation 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In the interest of transparency and accountability to our donors we publish our annual report and accounts on our website. The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by:
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20th June 2023
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Katharina Natter
Date
Asylos Annual Report 2022
29
#proofnotprejudice
www.asylos.eu I info@asylos.eu
| Charity Name | No (if any) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asylos | 1158386 | |||
| Receipts and payments accounts | CC16a | |||
| For the period from |
Period start date 01/01/2022 |
To Period end date 31/12/2022 |
Section A Receipts and payments
| Charity Name No (if any) CC16a Asylos 1158386 Receipts and payments accounts For the period from Period start date To Period end date 01/01/2022 31/12/2022 Section A Receipts and payments |
Charity Name No (if any) CC16a Asylos 1158386 Receipts and payments accounts For the period from Period start date To Period end date 01/01/2022 31/12/2022 Section A Receipts and payments |
Charity Name No (if any) CC16a Asylos 1158386 Receipts and payments accounts For the period from Period start date To Period end date 01/01/2022 31/12/2022 Section A Receipts and payments |
Charity Name No (if any) CC16a Asylos 1158386 Receipts and payments accounts For the period from Period start date To Period end date 01/01/2022 31/12/2022 Section A Receipts and payments |
Charity Name No (if any) CC16a Asylos 1158386 Receipts and payments accounts For the period from Period start date To Period end date 01/01/2022 31/12/2022 Section A Receipts and payments |
Charity Name No (if any) CC16a Asylos 1158386 Receipts and payments accounts For the period from Period start date To Period end date 01/01/2022 31/12/2022 Section A Receipts and payments |
Charity Name No (if any) CC16a Asylos 1158386 Receipts and payments accounts For the period from Period start date To Period end date 01/01/2022 31/12/2022 Section A Receipts and payments |
Charity Name No (if any) CC16a Asylos 1158386 Receipts and payments accounts For the period from Period start date To Period end date 01/01/2022 31/12/2022 Section A Receipts and payments |
Charity Name No (if any) CC16a Asylos 1158386 Receipts and payments accounts For the period from Period start date To Period end date 01/01/2022 31/12/2022 Section A Receipts and payments |
CC16a |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest € |
Restricted funds to the nearest € |
Endowment funds to the nearest € |
Total funds to the nearest € |
Last year to the nearest € |
||||
| Paul Hamlyn Foundation | - 95,031- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 95,031- |
- 104,302- |
||||
| Sigrid Rausing Trust | - 69,535- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 69,535- |
- 69,535- |
||||
| AB Charitable Trust | - 23,178- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 23,178- |
- 23,178- |
||||
| Dutch private donor | - 15,000- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 15,000- |
- 15,000- |
||||
| Haella Foundation | - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 5,000- |
||||
| Allen Lane Foundation | - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 11,589- |
||||
| Leathersellers' Company Charitable Trust | - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 1,738- |
||||
| Austrian Private Philanthropist | - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 20,000- |
||||
| Evan Cornish Foundation | - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 5,795- |
||||
| Souter Trust | - -- |
- 3,477- |
- -- |
- 3,477- |
- 4,634- |
||||
| Oak Foundation | - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 8,692- |
||||
| Hilden Charitable Trust | - -- |
- 5,795- |
- -- |
- 5,795- |
- -- |
||||
| Justice Together Initiative | - -- |
- 48,897- |
- -- |
- 48,897- |
- -- |
||||
| Trust for London | - -- |
- 14,486- |
- -- |
- 14,486- |
- -- |
||||
| Clifford Chance | - 11,589- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 11,589- |
- -- |
||||
| Other donations | - 1,993- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 1,993- |
- 2,197- |
||||
| Interest and other | - 223- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 223- |
- 11- |
||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | - 216,550- |
- 72,655- |
- -- |
- 289,205- |
- 271,671- |
||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
| A2 Asset and investment sales, | ||||||||||||||||||
| (see table). | ||||||||||||||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
6/15/2023
1
| Sub total | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Total receipts ** | - | 216,550- | - | 72,655- | - | -- | - | 289,205- | - | 271,671- | ||||||||||
| A3 Payments | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Network Coordination | - | 94,788- | - | 72,057- | - | -- | - | 166,845- | - | 104,052- | ||||||||||
| Volunteer meetings | - | 0- | - | 33,841- | - | -- | - | 33,841- | - | 218- | ||||||||||
| Office costs | - | 16,465- | - | -- | - | -- | - | 16,465- | - | 12,822- | ||||||||||
| (UK) Project costs | - | 9,563- | - | 106,345- | - | -- | - | 115,908- | - | 43,777- | ||||||||||
| Governance and Development | - | 8,847- | - | -- | - | -- | - | 8,847- | - | 5,195- | ||||||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | 129,662- | - | 212,243- | - | -- | - | 341,905- | - | 166,064- |
| A4 Asset and investment | ||||||||||||||||||||
| purchases, (see table) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | ||||||||||||
| **Total payments ** | - | 129,662- | - | 212,243- | - | -- | - | 341,905- | - | 166,064- | ||||||||||
| **Net of receipts/(payments) ** | - | 86,888- | - | 139,588- | - | -- | - | 52,700- | - | 105,607- | ||||||||||
| A5 Transfers between funds | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | ||||||||||||
| A6 Cash funds last year end | - | 22,862- | - | 139,588- | - | -- | - | 162,450- | - | 56,844- | ||||||||||
| **Cash funds this year end ** | - | 109,750- | - | 0- | - | -- | - | 109,750- | - | 162,451- |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Restricted funds | Endowment | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Details | funds | funds | |||||||||||
| to nearest € | to nearest € | to nearest € | ||||||||||||
| B1 | Cash funds | BNP Paribas (Belgium) | - | 11,737- | - | -- | - | -- | ||||||
| Triodos (UK) | - | 98,013- | - | -- | - | -- | ||||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
6/15/2023
2
| B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use |
Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account (s)) Details Details Details |
- 109,750- |
- 109,750- |
- -- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OK | ||||
| Unrestricted funds to nearest € - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs |
Restricted funds to nearest € - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- Cost (optional) - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- Cost (optional) - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- |
Endowment funds to nearest € |
||
| - -- |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| - -- |
||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| - -- |
- -- |
|||
| - -- |
- -- |
|||
| - -- |
- -- |
|||
| - -- |
- -- |
|||
| - -- |
- -- |
|||
| - -- |
- -- |
CCXX R3 accounts (SS)
6/15/2023
3
| - | -- | - | -- | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | -- | - | -- | |||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | |||||||
| Fund to which | Amount due | When due | ||||||||
| Details | liability relates | (optional) | (optional) | |||||||
| - | -- | |||||||||
| - | -- | |||||||||
| - | -- | |||||||||
| - | -- | |||||||||
| - | -- | |||||||||
| Signature | Name | Date of approval | ||||||||
| Katharina Natter | 23/6/2023 | |||||||||
B5 Liabilities
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
CCXX R4 accounts (SS)
6/15/2023
4
Independenl Examlnerf5 report to the trustees of Asylos CIO I report to the trustee5 on my e¥aminafjon ot the accounts of Asylos CIO 1.the CIO") lor the year ended 31 December 2022 Responslbllltles and bas15 of report As the charity trustees of the CIO you are responsible for the preParaOn of the accounts In accordance wlth the reqyirements of the Charities Act 20111"the Arfl. I report in respert of my examinadon of the CIO'S accounts carrled out under sertlon 145 of the Act and In carrylng out my examinatlon, I have followed the appllcable Direcfjons glven by the Charity Commisslon under sectlon 14515llbl of the Act. Independent ex•mlner's statemènt I have completed my examlnation. l Confirm that no materlal matter5 have come to my attentlon in connecdon wlth my examlnatton glvln8 me cause to belleve that in any material respect.. accoundng record$ were not kept In respect of the CIO as required under seon 130 of the Act,. or 2. the accounts do not ac¢or(I wlth the accoundng records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connectton wlth the examlnadon to whi¢h rtentfjon should be drawn In thls report order to enable a proper tJnderstsndSng of the account5 to be reached. ICJ Trevor James FCA DChA FCIE Dormer Cottage West Broyle Chlchester West sussex P019 3PR 14 June 2023