Άρθρο Popaganda

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Άρθρο Popaganda

Διαβάστε περισσότερα εδώ

Άρθρο Popaganda

Διαβάστε περισσότερα εδώ

Άρθρο Popaganda

Διαβάστε περισσότερα εδώ

Άρθρο Popaganda

Διαβάστε περισσότερα εδώ

Athens, 24 June 2022: Today, six Greek civil society organisations, members of the Informal Forced Returns Recording Mechanism established by the Greek National Commission for Human Rights in response to systematic push back allegations in the country, submitted a briefing to the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), covering systemic breaches of the rule of law and the EU acquis by Greek authorities. These stem mainly from the continuation of routine unlawful removal of people seeking international protection from the national territory, contempt of court orders and discrediting of European and international bodies responsible for monitoring and safeguarding human rights.

The briefing comes ahead of the hearing of the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum at the LIBE Committee on 27 June 2022. The Committee has made crucial, consistent efforts to ensure scrutiny of Greek push back practices and of and respect for the rule of law, fundamental rights and the EU acquis over the past two years, including through hearings, letters, and over a dozen targeted written questions tabled by Members across different parliamentary groups (EPP, S&D, Renew, Greens, Left).[1]

The briefing is signed by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), the Greek Transgender Support Association (GTSA), HIAS Greece, HumanRights360, the Network for Children’s Rights (NCR), and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA).

[1]           Questions for written answer P-1972/2022; E-1951/2022; E-1639/2022; E-1519/2022; E-1438/2022; E-861/2022; E-259/2022; E-5571/2021; E2697/2021; E-1667/2021; E-4857/2020; E-4566/2020; E-4168/2020.

To read the briefing, press here

GCR’s Information Note

on interventions and on interim measures granted by the ECtHR in cases regarding pushbacks

Updated on 6^th of March 2023

         Since March 2022 the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) has represented 468 Syrian and 38 Turkish refugees, including many children, before the European Court of Human Rights, by filing 22 applications for interim measures (Rule 39), requesting to be granted humanitarian assistance and access to the asylum procedure.

The Court granted the requested interim measures for all cases and ordered the Greek government not to remove the refugees from the country’s territory and to provide them with food, water and proper medical care. The ECtHR also requested to be informed by the Greek government, amongst others, on whether the refugees have submitted an asylum application and whether they have access to the asylum procedure and to legal assistance.

Some of the refugees of these 22 groups have been formally arrested by the Greek authorities but most of them complain they have been pushed back to Turkey. It should be noted that the refugees, even from the groups that were formally arrested, complain that in the past they had been subjected to violent and informal return (pushback) to Turkey from Greece.

Furthermore, both with respect to those stranded on the islets and those in the Greek mainland, the refugees who complain that they have been pushed back to Turkey, also complain that they were informally arrested by the Greek authorities, informally detained in an unspecified detention facility in the Evros region, they were treated with violence, they were transferred to the Evros river bank from where they were forcibly put in boats and pushed back to Turkey.

URGENT CALL

Α group of 35 Syrian refugees, including 15 children remain stranded, on an islet in Evros river, without access to food, water and humanitarian aid, for a week now, despite the fact that the European Court of Human Rights with 4 different Decision, the most recent as of 17/6/2022,  has granted interim measures and has ordered the Greek Authorities not to remove the applicants from Greece until further notice and to provide them with food, water and adequate medical care as needed (M.A. and Others v. Greece And 13 other cases; S. S. and Others v. Greece; F. R. and Others v. Greece; A. D. and Others v. Greece).

Up until today, one week after the Authorities have been initially informed about the presence of the group of refugees on the islet and five (5) days after the most recent Decision of the European Court of Human Rights, Greek Authorities have not proceeded to any rescue operation and have not complied with the Decisions of the Court, exposing the persons in an imminent risk as they remain stranded in a small islet at Evros river.

We urge the Greek State to comply with the Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, to rescue the refugees and to proceed to all relevant procedures provided by law.

The European Parliament's European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), in a letter signed by its President Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar to the European Commission, expresses its concern about "the continuing reports of dozens of people seeking international protection pushed back from Greece to Turkey through the land border area of the Evros River". The letter points out that the European Court of Human Rights has issued more than 13 judgments in recent weeks "of interim measures and, hence, instructed the Greek authorities to ensure that the concerned persons have immediate humanitarian and medical assistance and that they will fall under the reception and identification procedures provided by the law". It stresses the fact that many of these people "were stranded for days, without being rescued by the Greek authorities, in very harsh conditions on small islets in the Evros River and several among them have reported being pushed back to Turkey later on, in contempt of court ruling". It points to the escalation of the situation with reports of loss of life, inhumane behaviour, denial of access to the asylum procedure and "refoulements at the EU’s external borders with the involvement of the Greek police authorities, in stark contravention of Articles 1, 2, 14, 18 and 19 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 6 of the Asylum Procedures Directive".

Το Ελληνικό Συμβούλιο για τους Πρόσφυγες κατά την ετήσια Γενική Συνέλευση της Πλατφόρμας για την Διεθνή Συνεργασία για τους Μετανάστες Χωρίς Χαρτιά  PICUM (https://picum.org/). Η Γενική Συνέλευση έλαβε χώρα στις Βρυξέλλες στις 2 και 3 Ιουνίου 2022 και το ΕΣΠ εκπροσωπήθηκε από τον Λευτέρη Παπαγιαννάκη, Διευθυντή της Οργάνωσης.

Το PICUM έχει 164 μέλη από 31 χώρες, τα οποία συντονίζουν τις προσπάθειες τους ώστε να εξασφαλιστεί ο σεβασμός των δικαιωμάτων των ανθρώπων χωρίς χαρτιά.