Το Ελληνικό Συμβούλιο για τους Πρόσφυγες, στο πλαίσιο της υποστήριξης των 38 προσφύγων, που κατήγγειλαν αρχικά επαναπροώθηση από τις ελληνικές αρχές στην Τουρκία, και στη συνέχεια περισυνελέγησαν στον Έβρο στις 15-8-2022, και σε συνέχεια προηγούμενων ανακοινώσεών του για το ζήτημα αυτό[1], επιθυμεί να επαναλάβει ότι η αποστολή του και ο ρόλος του είναι να συνδράμει και να εκπροσωπεί ανθρώπους σε κίνδυνο, οι οποίοι αναζητούν ασφάλεια και άσυλο στην Ελλάδα.

Στο πλαίσιο αυτό συνέδραμε τους συγκεκριμένους πρόσφυγες ήδη από τις 20-7-2022, με απεύθυνση, κατ' αρχάς, στις αρμόδιες ελληνικές αρχές και στη συνέχεια με αιτήματα ασφαλιστικών μέτρων προς το Ευρωπαϊκό Δικαστήριο των Δικαιωμάτων του Ανθρώπου (αποφάσεις K.A. και B.S.)[2], ενώ στις 30/9/2022 προχώρησε, εντός της δοθείσας προθεσμίας, στην κατάθεση προσφυγής στο Ευρωπαϊκό Δικαστήριο Δικαιωμάτων του Ανθρώπου (ΕΔΔΑ) εναντίον τόσο των Τουρκικών όσο και των Ελληνικών αρχών για παραλείψεις και ενέργειές τους που έθεσαν σε κίνδυνο ή ακόμη και μπορεί να στέρησαν ανθρώπινες ζωές.

Η σχετική δε ευθύνη και των Ελληνικών αρχών προκύπτει και από το πρόσφατα δημοσιευθέν έγγραφο του Υπουργείου Εθνικής Άμυνας[3], σύμφωνα με το οποίο η συγκεκριμένη νησίδα τέμνεται από την Ελληνοτουρκική συνοριακή γραμμή, «δημιουργώντας το ελληνικό και τουρκικό τμήμα αυτής». 

IT IS THE GREEK GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY TO IMMEDIATELY PUT A STOP TO INFORMAL FORCED RETURNS (PUSHBACKS): THEY ENDANGER HUMAN LIVES AND BREACH THE STATE’S INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS

Athens, 5 October 2022

The way in which the Ministry of Migration handled last month’s case concerning the Syrian people who were left stranded for days in Evros, while sparking a general public outcry, cannot but cause concern and call for reflection. The refugees report, among other things, that they were left helpless on the islet for many days, where a child died of a scorpion sting, and that during their stay on the islet, they were pushed back to Turkiye on at least one occasion.

The Ministry continues to deny the refugees’ allegations and denies responsibility for the case, failing to internationalise the issue (if – as it claims – the islet is not Greek), obscuring the facts and preventing an impartial and thorough investigation.  The recent incident in Evros is revealing – and of course it is not the only one – of the fact that the Greek authorities' policy of puahbacksis a standard practice with fatal consequences for the lives, physical integrity and freedom of refugees.

In the last weeks, a series of tragic incidents in the Eastern Mediterranean shed light on lesser-known migratory routes. In the most recent case, following a shipwreck off Syria of a boat that had departed from Lebanon heading to Italy, at least 94 people died.

In another recent case, 250 people who had departed from Lebanon for Italy were left at sea for about a week without food and water before being rescued by an NGO. In another incident, a four-year-old girl named Loujin died of thirst on board of a vessel with 60 people who had departed from Lebanon to reach Italy and was left at sea for 10 days, and were rescued by a merchant vessel. Finally, six people, including three children and one mother, died while attempting to reach Italy from Turkey. On 20 September 2022, Alarm Phone reported about 53 people in distress in the Greek SAR zone, including 5 children, who had departed from Lebanon and had been at sea for 4 days. They were eventually pushed back to Turkey.

These incidents take place as people are forced to embark on increasingly dangerous migration journeys due to the systemic violence, pushbacks and dangers encountered on other routes and the lack of legal channels for migration. Greece is on the frontline of this border violence, with countless evidence of Greek authorities beating, detaining, and abandoning people at sea while clinging to life rafts, while Cyprus has, on multiple occasions, pushed back boats arriving from Lebanon. At the same time, these tragic incidents are a direct result of unlawful and repeated policies of non-assistance at sea by Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Italy.

The Greek Council for Refugees is following with concern the ongoing toxic debate surrounding the issue of the 38 refugees, from which the real stakes have been “forgotten”:  that is to say, the practices that are in violation of the law and are dismantling human rights, the respect of which is non-negotiable.

Recent developments, which have "hurt" Civil Society, oblige GCR to reiterate that its mission and role is to assist and represent people at risk, who seek safety and asylum in Greece.

GCR’s statutory purpose is to support and be an advocate for vulnerable people, refugees, and it will not stop doing so. Their instrumentalisation is unthinkable in a state governed by the rule of law.

We will continue to fulfil our mission conscientiously and with respect for international, EU and national law and with commitment to the humanitarian values they express.

In doing so we will continue to rely on partnerships and collaborations with fellow travellers from across civil society, and we hope that any differentiations or retreats will not hurt this common struggle.

As civil society and Afghan diaspora organisations, we are deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and the treatment of Afghan asylum seekers and refugees in Europe.

One year after the Taliban takeover, the country is in a state of lawlessness without a constitution. The overall security, economic and human rights situation is deteriorating, and people’s suffering is increasing. Afghanistan’s economy has collapsed, and the country is confronting a dire humanitarian crisis, with 23 million people facing acute hunger. The general level of conflict has dropped compared to before August 2021 since the Taliban was a party to the conflict and has taken power, but the country is far from stable. Targeted killings and systematic attacks against religious and ethnic minorities, particularly against the Hazara community, revenge killings by the Taliban against former government officials and former military forces have significantly increased. Freedom of expression and movement of mainly women and girls has been severely restricted. Other rights are violated by measures taken by the Taliban, such as the ban on secondary school education for girls. Many human rights violations and incidents are going unreported in the absence of a vibrant civil society and due to the fear of Taliban persecution.

Read the full statement

In December 2021, the European Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation addressing situations of instrumentalisation in the field of migration and asylum. The proposal introduces a mechanism which allows Member States to derogate from their responsibilities under EU asylum law in situations of “instrumentalisation” of migration. The mechanism is permanently available to Member States who can invoke it in multiple situations, essentially enabling them to derogate at will from their obligations.

We understand that there is broad support among Member States for the proposed Regulation and that the Czech Presidency aims at adoption of a common position by December. This would make it one of the fastest moving legislative files related to asylum in Council. The proposal allows states to derogate from the proposed Asylum Procedures Regulation of 2016 and amended APR proposal of 2020 (APR), the proposed recast of the Reception Conditions Directive (rRCD) of 2016, and the proposed recast Return Directive (rRD) of 2018. The derogations are substantial and substantive, significantly affecting the rights of people seeking protection.

Ο Διευθυντής του Ελληνικού Συμβουλίου για τους Πρόσφυγες (ΕΣΠ) γράφει στα Νέα για την ανάγκη σοβαρού διαλόγου, σε συνέχεια και των 19 ασφαλιστικών μέτρων που έχει χορηγήσει το ΕΔΔΑ για υποθέσεις προσφύγων που εκπροσωπεί το ΕΣΠ, ανά περιπτώσεις από κοινού και με την HumanRights360 και την Υποστήριξη Προσφύγων στο Αιγαίο (RSA).

31 August 2022

It was with regret and concern that we followed the statements made in the Parliament by the competent Minister of Migration and Asylum and the corresponding statements of the Prime Minister, on the occasion of the rescue of 38 Syrian refugees from an islet in Evros, which target organisations such us, among others, the Greek Council for Refugees, an association that has been active for more than 30 years in supporting refugees, regardless of political positions and nuances.

As an organization, by definition non-profit and independent of the persons - members of its Board of Directors, who offer their services beyond any other capacity they may have, we are saddened by the offensive and arbitrary references to supposedly humanitarian facades, to organisations collaborating with smugglers or with the Turkish authorities. Particularly offensive are the references to the modus operandi of organisations when these actions involve interventions to the Greek or European justice system, as the Greek Council for Refugees has consistently done for many years.

With a joint letter to the Secretary General for Migration Policy and the Secretary General for Reception of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum on 28 August, 37 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) stress the concerning gaps with respect to the protection of LGBTQI+ asylum seekers in Greece and call for action to protect their rights. You can read the full letter here