Resuming migrant transfers to Greece reveals EU's failure, says HRW
by Daily Sabah with Wires
IstanbulDec 12, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with Wires
Dec 12, 2016 12:00 am
The European Union's report over resuming the gradual return of asylum-seekers to Greece under EU asylum rules was slammed by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) who said that the latest EU plan on migrant returns shows the EU's "failure to uphold its human rights obligations and share responsibility for refugees."
"It is astonishing that the European Commission thinks asylum seekers should be sent back to Greece, where thousands are already suffering as a direct consequence of the EU's policies," said Eva Cossé, Greece researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of adding to Greece's burden, EU governments and institutions should be working to alleviate it, by relocating asylum seekers from Greece to other EU countries." The human rights body stated that "it was not safe to return asylum seekers" to Greece regarding "deficiencies in the Greek asylum system and its degrading treatment of migrant detainees."
According to an EU migration progress report, the commission recommends that asylum seekers who first arrive in Greece on or after March 15, 2017 and then move on to Germany, Sweden or elsewhere could be transferred back to the Mediterranean country.
The goal is to return to the full enforcement of the bloc's so-called Dublin rules, which say that an asylum claim must be filed in the first EU member state of entry. The transfer of asylum applicants back to Greece under those rules was suspended in 2011 after two EU courts ruled that there were "systemic deficiencies" in the Greek asylum system.
The Dublin system broke down further last year when more than 1 million people reached the continent, most of them first setting foot in Greece.
More than 66,000 refugees and migrants remain stranded on the Greek islands and mainland, according to EU commission data.
Greece's Migration Ministry said last week that 16,400 migrants were waiting to have their asylum applications processed on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos. However, the HRW stated that more than 62,500 women, men, and children stranded in Greece face "abysmal and volatile conditions."
The HRW also draws attention to "multiple human rights violations, including obstacles in accessing adequate protection, and reception conditions that are well below international human rights standards" in Greece.
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