Dutch government proposed amendments to the Aliens Act, which included the processing of asylum claims in some instances within eight days, including in complex cases. In 2009, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed its concern that existing “accelerated procedures”, allowing determination of asylum applications within 48 working hours, and the proposed eight-day procedure, might not allow asylum-seekers to substantiate their claims adequately, putting them at risk of forcible return.83 In its most recent Annual Report on the Netherlands, Amnesty International also voiced its concern that the eight-day asylum procedure impedes asylum-seekers from substantiating their claims and will result in the rejection of well-founded claims. In addition, it believes that most asylum claims are processed using the new eight-day asylum procedure, and that of these, over 50 percent receive a determination of the claim within the eight days.84 Rest of Europe: All other European countries reported that there is no accelerated procedure for assessing asylum claims (Armenia, Kosovo, Moldova and Turkey). North America and the Pacific In Canada, there is an accelerated procedure for assessing asylum applications, and VoTs can be processed within it.85 In the USA, there is no accelerated procedure for assessing asylum applications, and the IRCT member centres reported that the US Immigration Authorities have a huge backlog in cases.86 Neither Australia nor New Zealand has an accelerated procedure for assessing asylum applications. However, in Australia, the asylum procedure is accelerated for persons in detention, regardless of the specific circumstances of their case (i.e. not necessarily on the basis that they are a VoT), but there are no clear time-frames. QUESTION 16 Are measures taken to avoid the detention of VoTs? The detention of asylum-seekers is a worrying trend in many asylum-receiving countries. It is even more concerning where those detained may have previously suffered torture and ill-treatment in their home country. Detention is likely to exacerbate any physical or mental health problems suffered as a result of past torture, particularly if asylum-seekers are detained for long periods of time. The issue of detention is considered in more detail in Part 3 of the report. General observations Centres in the majority of the countries participating in the survey reported that there are no measures taken to avoid the detention of VoTs (61 percent). This is particularly concerning for two reasons. First, once in detention, there is substantial research showing that both the physical and mental health of any individual is highly likely to deteriorate.87 This deterioration is likely to be even more severe for someone, such as a VoT, who has pre-existing health conditions. Secondly, detention is likely to retraumatise an individual, particularly if their previous experience of torture or ill-treatment took place in a detention environment in their home country. In addition, once in detention, if there is no effective system in place to monitor the health of individuals, then health problems that require treatment may go undetected for some time as there is likely to be less support (both medical and legal) made readily available to detainees. Europe EU countries: The majority of the EU Member States represented have no measures in place to avoid the detention of Recognising victims of torture in national asylum procedures / 51