Download The situation of refugees in Greece after the EU

The situation of refugees in Greece after the
EU-Turkey statement of 18 March 2016
Dr. Eleni Koutsouraki
Attorney at law,
Greek Council for Refugees
EU-Turkey statement, 18 March 2016
All new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey into Greek islands
as from 20 March 2016 will be returned to Turkey.
Breach of EU and international law: ban on collective expulsion in
the EU Charter and the ECHR, EU asylum legislation.
The rest of the paragraph completely contradicts it:
This will take place in full compliance with EU and international
law, thus excluding any kind of collective expulsion. All migrants
will be protected in accordance with the relevant international
standards and in respect of the principle of non-refoulement.
It will be a temporary and extraordinary measure which is necessary to
end the human suffering and restore public order,
How ‘temporary’ this measure will be?
Migrants arriving in the Greek islands will be duly registered and any
application for asylum will be processed indvidually by the Greek
authorities.
Migrants not applying for asylum or whose application has been found
unfounded or inadmissible will be returned to Turkey,
Non-applicants:
If irregular migrants do not apply for asylum there is no legal obstacle to
returning them to Turkey. But, are they given an effective opportunity to
apply?
Asylum-seekers:
‘Unfounded’ application = it has been rejected on the merits.
The Greek authorities have to consider the applications 
significant administrative burden. Application for non-Syrians.
‘Ιnadmissible’ application = it has been rejected on the grounds
that Turkey is a safe third country or first country of asylum.
Application for Syrians.
* 311 appeals examined by the Old Appeal Committees  6
decisions have confirmed the first-instance inadmissibility
decisions, 305 reversed the first-instance inadmissibility
decisions. New Appeal Committees examine appeals lodged
since 20 July.
 Law 4375/2016 with immediate entry into force for the
implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement provides for
potentially continuous detention during initial processing of
identity verification and asylum claims and then pending removal.
 The three largest hot-spots (Lesvos, Chios and Samos) began
operating as detention centres: poor quality food, insufficient
shelter, poor sanitation, inadequate access to appropriate medical
care.
 Large numbers of asylum-seekers and migrants trapped in Greece.
Poor conditions, uncertainty for the future and stress of imminent
deportation lead to mass protests and outbreaks of violence (+
mandatory coexistence of persons with very different cultural
backgrounds). The situation does not differ significantly in the
open camps, which were swiftly established all over Greece after
the closure of the ‘Balkan route’.
 The statement is not subject to legal challenge but its
implementation in the form of specific laws or their
application
to
individual
asylum-seekers
can
be
challenged,through the Greek courts (which can refer
questions to the CJEU).
 If the asylum-seekers have gone through the entire Greek
court system, or cannot effectively access it, they can
complain to the ECtHR.
 Access to lawyers and courts?