E.U.-Turkey Statement

Incarcerating the Marginalized. The Fight Against Alleged ›Smugglers‹ on the Greek Hotspot Islands. A report on the criminalization of migration. The following report outlines the system of punishment and incarceration of migrants who are accused of human smuggling at the EU-external border in the Aegean. It bears witness to the fates of people who have been sentenced to life long imprisonment in Greece

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

News Bulletin by Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) and PRO ASYL:
Seven years after signing the toxic EU-Turkey "agreement", the East Aegean islands remain "black holes" for the fundamental rights of applicants for international protection. According to recent data, arrivals had increased significantly in late 2022 and early 2023.

Based on its own documentation and reporting, the Legal Centre Lesvos demonstrates in a recent submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture that the illegal practice of systematic pushbacks in the Aegean region amount to torture, both under international and Greek law.

In view of the mandatory reassessment by Greece of the designation of Türkiye as a “safe third country” in November, 15 civil society organisations have written to the Greek Asylum Service, the Ministers of Migration and Asylum and of Foreign Affairs, and the European Commission urging them to:

Immediately repeal the national list of safe third countries set out by JMD 42799/2021, as amended by JMD 458568/2021.

Publish previous and upcoming opinions of the Director of the Asylum Service regarding the designation of safe third countries, which should be made available to asylum seekers subject to the application of the list according to the European Commission.

Stop dismissing asylum applications as inadmissible based on the “safe third country” concept.

Equal Rights Beyond Borders together with HIAS Greece and Refugee Support Aegean and commissioned by the Danish Refugee Council published an analysis on Border Procedures on the Greek Islands.
Τhe report examines the workings of border procedures implemented on the Greek islands over the past year (June 2021 – June 2022), revealing new concerns tied to poor quality of asylum procedures and to breaches of fundamental rights.

The new issue of the Greek Asylum Case Law Report released today provides excerpts from 79 decisions issued in the first half of 2022 by Administrative Courts, the Independent Appeals Committees and the Asylum Service.