Since July 2023, the Aegean islands have experienced a sharp increase in arriving asylum seekers crossing byboat from Türkiye. Between 1 July – 31 August 2023, over 4,000 people were brought to the Closed ControlledAccess Centres (CCACs) on Samos and Lesvos and placed into unlawful detention while awaiting registration oftheir asylum requests.

Read the Joint Statement here

Survivors demand an effective investigation

Athens, September 14, 2023: Forty survivors of the deadly shipwreck in Pylos filed yesterday a criminal complaint against all responsible parties before the Naval Court of Piraeus.

The survivors, represented by the Network for Refugee and Migrant Rights, the Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR), the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), the Initiative of Lawyers and Jurists for the shipwreck of Pylos, and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), denounce a series of violations of the Greek authorities' obligations to protect the lives of those on board and demand an effective investigation into the circumstances of the deadliest shipwreck to occur in the Mediterranean in recent years.

The survivors submit that the Greek authorities failed to immediately intervene and to organise a timely and adequate rescue operation despite their duty to rescue the passengers on board under International Law of the Sea, Human Rights Law, EU and domestic Law. This was especially due to the fact that they had been informed from the outset and subsequently ascertained at close distance the imminent threat to life facing passengers on board the manifestly unseaworthy and overcrowded trawler. The complainants allege that the Greek authorities not only refrained from taking the necessary rescue measures as soon as the vessel was sighted, but instead proceeded to an effort to tow the vessel that resulted in its capsizing and sinking.

The complainants demand an immediate, thorough and reliable investigation and the attribution of criminal responsibility for the acts and omissions of the Greek authorities. We recall that a number of international organisations and institutions, including the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe and the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament, have already urged Greece to carry out a full and effective investigation into the circumstances of the shipwreck.

The deadliest shipwreck of the Mediterranean has sparked global interest, a declared commitment of the Greek authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, and the launch of a preliminary examination by the Naval Court of Piraeus. Nevertheless, three months after the tragic event, none of the survivors of the shipwreck, witnesses of the events of 13/14 June 2023, has – to our knowledge – been called to testify on the circumstances of the shipwreck under that investigation or to provide any evidence.

Network for Refugee and Migrant Rights

Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR)

Greek Council for Refugees (GCR)

Initiative of Lawyers and Jurists for the shipwreck of Pylos

Refugee Support Aegean (RSA)

After Europe’s biggest and most notorious refugee camp burned down in September 2020, promises were made never to let Moria happen again. Authorities guaranteed that state-of-the-art facilities in line with fundamental rights and European standards would be created - improving safety and security, protection for vulnerable people, access to healthcare and fast and effective asylum procedures.^[1]

Exactly three years after the Moria fire, organisations warn that the EU-funded Closed Controlled Access Centre Mavrovouni (C.A.C.C.) on Lesvos, replacing Moria, has failed to live up to its promise. With a sharp increase in arrivals over the past few months, the situation at the C.C.A.C. has once again become unsustainable and endangers the health and well-being of people on the move.

ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE

After stating that the lack of access to health care in Moria was unacceptable in 2020 - a severe lack of medical staff, psychologists, psychiatrists and interpreters at the Mavrovouni C.C.A.C. persists.^[2] Organisations report an increase in medical emergencies, suicidality, substance dependency and gender-based violence inside the C.C.A.C.

The mandated public provider of healthcare inside the Mavrovouni C.C.A.C., the Greek National Public Health Organisation (EODY), is understaffed, with only one permanent doctor for a population of over 3,000 people. The lack of capacity is exacerbated by a considerable number of (medical) organisations ceasing operations or being forced to leave Mavrovouni.

RECEPTION CONDITIONS

Despite improvements made, the capacity to provide dignified up-to-standard reception conditions is lacking at the Mavrovouni C.C.A.C. People are put in rub halls with no privacy or partitions and forced to share rooms and containers with complete strangers, often without a mattress.

NGOs stress that a backlog and lack of capacity for registering people has delayed access to healthcare, vulnerability assessments and access to food or water and put people, already in a precarious situation, under additional pressure. Insecurity, delayed procedures and lack of efficient services at the C.C.A.C. often lead to tension and stress disorders.

VULNERABLE PEOPLE
The 2020 objective to create safe zones for vulnerable groups has not materialised. The “safe area” and shelters at the Mavrovouni C.C.A.C. on Lesvos cannot be considered safe due to a lack of appropriate protection measures that guarantee safety and security.

Vulnerable people, including unaccompanied children, single mothers and survivors of GBV are sheltered in the former “quarantine area” for long stretches of time and are not separated according to gender or vulnerability. Adults have unrestricted access and no permanent security is present in the area, increasing the risk of abuse.

ASYLUM PROCEDURE

Despite promises of fast and effective asylum procedures, several barriers to effective access to the right to seek asylum, e.g. illegal collective returns, bureaucratic obstacles, lack of interpreters, systematic use of accelerated and border procedures, the fallacious use of the safe country concept and lack of recognition of procedural guarantees, have been consistently experienced by people on the move on Lesvos.

Organisations report regular and prolonged delays in the registration of asylum applications on the island. These delays had led to an increase in the number of people under ‘restriction of freedom’ for up to 25 days in the C.C.A.C., amounting to de facto detention.^[3]

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Three years down the road the reception centres on the Greek islands were meant to be exemplary blueprints for living conditions in line with fundamental rights and European standards and swift procedures at all European borders. Instead, if no action is taken, Mavrovouni provides a stark warning of what is to come.

Supported by:

1. Lighthouse Relief
2. Yoga and Sport with Refugees
3. Refugee Legal Support
4. Yoga and sport with refugees
5. I Have Rights
6. Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid
7. Better Days Greece
8. Choose Love
9. Equal Legal Aid
10. Mobile Info Team
11. Thalassa of Solidarity (Θάλασσα Αλληλεγγύης)
12. #LeaveNoOneBehind
13. Network for Children's Rights
14. Samos Volunteers
15. Europe Cares e.V. / Paréa Lesvos
16. Diotima Centre for Gender Rights and Equality
17. Ariadni Lesvos

^[1] EU Commission, ‘Memorandum of Understanding on a Joint Pilot for the establishment and operation of a new Multi-Purpose Reception and Identification Centre on Lesvos’ (2020) 8657 final; European Commission ‘Migration: A European Taskforce to Resolve Emergency Situation on Lesvos’ (23 September 2020).

^[2] RSA and PRO ASYL 'What's Happening Today in the Refugee Structures on the Aegean Islands’ (May 2023); Intersos ‘Trapped between Scylla and Charybdis’ (August 2023).

^[3] Article 40(a) of Law 4939/2022, Government Gazette A’ 111/10.06.2022 (Asylum Code).