Investigating human rights Asylum and immigration law - border management in Spielfeld A delegation of the AOB visited the Spielfeld border-crossing on 20 February 2016. Since no acts of direct administrative power and coercive measures were observed during the visit and the border-crossing is not a place of detention within the meaning of the OPCAT, the AOB conducted an ex-officio investigation as part of its ex-post control. At the time of the visit, the congestion was manageable and entry was organised in a satisfactory way. The police, the army and private organisations did good work. However, the delegation – which included persons with adequate language skills – observed deficiencies in interpreting services. There also was a need for improvement within the police organisation. Deficiency in interpreting services Storage of fingerprints The Federal Ministry of the Interior stated that lay interpreters who were qualified and culture-sensitive would be utilised, as needed at the time, and that a contract had been concluded with an appropriate company. The Police Department of Styria and the Federal Ministry of the Interior considered this to be sufficient since standardised questions were being asked. The affected persons received written information with the precise reasons for refusing entry in their own language as well as a verbal statement. The AOB found that the observations made by the Police Department of Styria did not match those of the visiting delegation and determined that lay interpreting was inadequate. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the aforementioned company will be able to provide the professionalism demanded by the AOB, since the lay interpreters are supposed to be trained to meet UNHCR quality criteria. Peer support and supervision units will be offered as well. Information regarding possible vaccinations The delegation also observed that police officers were not adequately informed regarding possible vaccinations. The Federal Ministry of the Interior referred to a decree dated October 2015, which the Police Department of Styria communicated to all police stations. The Federal Ministry of the Interior accepted the suggestion of the AOB that attention should also be drawn to possible vaccinations by posting notices in police stations. Commands are unclear Conversations with police officers on site indicated that commands were not always clear and changed rapidly. The Federal Ministry of the Interior stated that the commands in the Police Department of Styria were clearly discernible to all managers and the police officers under their supervision, and realisable. An extremely dynamic situation, like the one that existed at the time of the commission’s visit, demands intervention as the situation dictates. Therefore, procedures had to be adjusted on short notice. Extensions of working hours on short notice are part of a police officer’s everyday life and therefore are inherent in the system. However, these statements did not correspond to the statements made by the police officers on site. Therefore, the AOB suggested 60