QUESTION 2 Does the national legislation set out who is in charge of identifying VoTs?53 General observations The majority of respondents across all three regions (77 percent) stated that there is no national legislation laying out who is in charge of identifying VoTs within the national asylum procedure. Only centres in three countries (17 percent) confirmed that there is national legislation setting out who is in charge of identifying VoTs (two countries from Europe and Canada). Does the national legislation set out who is in charge of identifying VoTs? Yes: Croatia, Germany, Canada. No: Armenia, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Moldova, Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand. It depends: USA. Yes (3; 17 percent) No (14; 77 percent) It depends (1; 6 percent) Europe Croatia and Germany are the only two countries in Europe that have national legislation that sets out who is in charge of identifying VoTs. In Croatia, the Ministry of the Interior is in charge of the asylum procedure. This includes determining whether an asylum claim is justified, including on the basis that the individual is a VoT. Therefore, the national asylum legislation gives authority to the Ministry of Interior to identify VoTs, although the legislation does not explicitly mention the identification of VoTs in the asylum procedure or indicate who specifically is in charge of that activity. In Germany, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has responsibility for identifying VoTs, and the officials in charge are either legal or administrative staff. The BAMF officials receive training on asylum, interview techniques and country credibility; some officials receive additional training on trauma. Training is mainly provided in-house but also by specialised external experts and NGOs, for example BafF centres.54 The training provided by independent experts is not carried out on a regular basis. There is also a lack of training on intercultural communication and communication using interpreters. North America and Pacific One centre in the USA and the Canadian centre both confirmed that the relevant immigration authorities are responsible for identifying VoTs. In the USA, division of responsibility is split within the asylum system between the Department of Homeland Security, which has responsibility over immigration officers during the refugee processing stage, and the Department of Justice, which has responsibility over immigration judges during immigration court proceedings. Immigration officers and immigration judges may receive training, some of which is provided by centres working with VoTs, such as ASTT. However, they are not responsible for identifying VoTs, unless the applicant makes a claim under the Convention against Torture. In Canada, the Immigration Refugee Board (IRB) is responsible for iden26 / Recognising victims of torture in national asylum procedures