The Greek Council for Refugees publishes the annual updated AIDA (Asylum Information Database) report 2021 on the refugee situation in Greece, in the framework of its collaboration with ECRE (European Council on Refugees and Exiles). The report tracks recent developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in Greece, as of 31 December 2021, such as: 

The Asylum Service received 28,320 asylum applications in 2021 (marking a 30.71% decrease compared to 2020), mainly from applicants from Afghanistan!

The recognition rate on the merits at first instance was 60% as was the case in 2020. However, a significant number of applicants have not been provided with access to an in merits examination and their applications have been examined under the safe third country concept, following the issuance of the Joint Ministerial Decision designated Turkey as a safe third country for applicants from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Bangladesh.

Access to asylum on the mainland continued to be a serious matter of concern throughout 2021. 

An increasing number of allegations of pushbacks continued to be reported during 2021 and have been largely criticised inter alia by UNHCR, IOM, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, the Council of Europe Commissioner, the Greek Ombudsperson and civil society organisations. Several reports indicate that they have become a “standard practice”, including violent border practices, arbitrary detention and even deaths at borders.

26/5/2022

HumanRights360 and the Greek Council for Refugees representing 94 refugees from Syria, who are stranded on an islet in Evros, submitted on Wednesday 24.05.2022 to the European Court of Human Rights an urgent request for interim measures to ensure that the people have immediate humanitarian and medical assistance and that they will fall under the reception and identification procedures provided by law.

Just a few hours later, the ECHR granted the interim measures, ordering the Greek government not to remove the 94 refugees from the Greek territory, and to offer them access to food, water and adequate medical treatment. With the same ruling, the ECHR is also asking the Greek government to provide to the Court official information on the whereabouts of the refugees, on whether the refugees have been able to submit an asylum application and if they indeed submitted one, and on whether they received legal assistance throughout this process.

When there’s a will, there’s a way to protection

Read the PRAB: Policy Note IV

Διαβάστε εδώ την Ετήσια Αναφορά του έτους 2021

The Greek government is operating “a two-tier refugee response” - one for Ukrainians and one for all other refugees according to a new briefing by the Greek Council for Refugees, Oxfam and Save the Children.

The briefing details how, in the last two months, people fleeing Ukraine who are seeking protection in Greece were given swift access to protection, health care and the labour market. The Greek government has also started providing accommodation and support to buy food, the organisations said.

In the same period, there were multiple incidents of violent “pushbacks” of asylum seekers from elsewhere - including cases of children and pregnant women who were detained and transferred by boat to islets in a river at the border. In mid-March, asylum seekers reported that a 4-year-old Syrian child tragically drowned after falling from a boat in one of these operations.

The Greek government has also set up an easy-to-use online registration process for Ukrainians seeking protection. In contrast, the registration of asylum applications in mainland Greece is almost completely dysfunctional and inaccessible for other nationalities, and Ukrainians who had arrived in Greece prior to 26 November, the report says.

The report details other instances of discrimination and differential treatment, with Ukrainians called “real refugees” and other people seeking protection labelled “illegal immigrants” by government officials. There were also reports that Afghan refugees in camps in Serres Camp in northern Greece are being forced to leave the containers in which they have been staying and move to a dilapidated part of the camp, to make space for newly arrived Ukrainians.

The research in Greece was conducted by the Greek Council for Refugees, supported by Save the Children and Oxfam. The findings and recommendations in Greece could be relevant to other European countries that are hosting people who have fled Ukraine as well as refugees from other countries.

The Greek government is operating “a two-tier refugee response” - one for Ukrainians and one for all other refugees according to a new briefing by the Greek Council for Refugees, Oxfam and Save the Children.  

The briefing details how, in the last two months, people fleeing Ukraine who are seeking protection in Greece were given swift access to protection, health care and the labour market. The Greek government has also started providing accommodation and support to buy food, the organisations said.  

In the same period, there were multiple incidents of violent “pushbacks” of asylum seekers from elsewhere - including cases of children and pregnant women who were detained and transferred by boat to islets in a river at the border. In mid-March, asylum seekers reported that a 4-year-old Syrian child tragically drowned after falling from a boat in one of these operations. 

The Greek government has also set up an easy-to-use online registration process for Ukrainians seeking protection. In contrast, the registration of asylum applications in mainland Greece is almost completely dysfunctional and inaccessible for other nationalities, and Ukrainians who had arrived in Greece prior to 26 November, the report says.  

The report details other instances of discrimination and differential treatment, with Ukrainians called “real refugees” and other people seeking protection labelled “illegal immigrants” by government officials. There were also reports that Afghan refugees in camps in Serres Camp in northern Greece are being forced to leave the containers in which they have been staying and move to a dilapidated part of the camp, to make space for newly arrived Ukrainians. 

The research in Greece was conducted by the Greek Council for Refugees, supported by Save the Children and Oxfam. The findings and recommendations in Greece could be relevant to other European countries that are hosting people who have fled Ukraine as well as refugees from other countries. 

Read the joint briefing from Greek Council for Refugees, Oxfam and Save the Children here

Over the past three weeks, the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) has represented the Syrian refugees, including 44 children, before the ECtHR, by filing 5 applications for interim measures (R 39), requesting for the Syrian refugees 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 Syrian refugees have submitted an asylum application and whether they have access to the asylum procedure and to legal assistance.

Two of these five groups of refugees have been collected by the Greek authorities, two other groups of Syrian refugees complain they have been pushed back to Turkey. The last group has been on the islet since the day before yesterday and comprises of refugees who were previously pushed back to Turkey while their request for interim measures was pending before the ECtHR, alongside a new group of 12 Syrian refugees who were granted interim measures yesterday.

Στις φωτογραφίες ο Πρόεδρος του Ελληνικού Συμβουλίου για τους Πρόσφυγες, Βασίλης Παπαδόπουλος και ο Πρόεδρος του Τμήματος Επικοινωνίας και Μέσων Μαζικής Ενημέρωσης του ΕΚΠΑ, καθηγητής Γιώργος Πλειός, κατά την υπογραφή του Μνημονίου Συνεργασίας στο ΕΣΠ

Αθήνα , 20.4.2022 - Στην υπογραφή Μνημονίου Συνεργασίας προχώρησαν στις 18 Απριλίου το Ελληνικό Συμβούλιο για τους Πρόσφυγες (ΕΣΠ) και το Τμήμα Επικοινωνίας και Μέσων Μαζικής Ενημέρωσης του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών (ΕΚΠΑ).

Με το Μνημόνιο οι δύο φορείς επικυρώνουν έμπρακτα το ενδιαφέρον τους για σταθερή συνεργασία σε ένα ευρύ φάσμα τομέων όπως της έρευνας, των εκδηλώσεων, της εκπαίδευσης και της πρακτικής άσκησης με έμφαση στις δράσεις και την θεματική του Μεταπτυχιακού Προγράμματος “(MScs) in Media and Refugee/Migration Flows” (Προσφυγικές/μεταναστευτικές ροές και ΜΜΕ).

Το αντικείμενο της συνεργασίας περιλαμβάνει ενδεικτικά: την διοργάνωση ημερίδων και επιστημονικών εκδηλώσεων σχετικά με τους πρόσφυγες και τα ΜΜΕ, την από κοινού διεξαγωγή ερευνητικών προγραμμάτων, τη δυνατότητα πρακτικής άσκησης και μαθητείας των φοιτητών στις υπηρεσίες και τα τμήματα του ΕΣΠ.

The Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) represented the Syrian refugees before the ECtHR, requesting humanitarian assistance and access to the asylum procedure. The ECtHR last night granted the interim measures (R 39) and ordered the Greek government not to remove the refugees from the country and to provide them with food, water and proper medical care. The ECtHR also requests information from the Greek government, including whether the Syrian refugees have submitted an asylum application and whether they have access to the asylum procedure and to legal assistance.

The Syrian refugees, among them 26 young children, patients and a pregnant woman, were stranded for several days on two islets in Evros, without access to water, food, medical assistance, exposed to the cold and weather conditions.

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