Greece faces legal challenge over asylum-seekers

By David Cronin

Date: 13/10/05

Greece has come under fire from both the European Commission and human rights groups over asylum-seeker applications. The Commission has warned Greece that it faces legal action for failing to apply one of the key EU laws on the treatment of asylum-seekers.

The Greek authorities have not yet notified the Commission of what steps they have undertaken to implement the 2003 directive on minimum standards for the reception of asylum-seekers.

The deadline for doing so was 6 February. A reasoned opinion has recently been sent to Athens, a pre-liminary step in a legal proceeding that can culminate in a ruling by the European Court of Justice.

The 2003 law requires that officials dealing with asylum claims have specialist training and that they take account of the needs of asylum-seekers categorised as "vulnerable", particularly children unaccompanied by an adult and victims of torture or conflict.

Greece's record on asylum has come in for criticism from several human rights groups in recent months.

Last week, Amnesty International published a report alleging that some asylum-seekers had been detained in metal containers after their arrival in Greece. Amnesty also detailed claims that individuals arriving in Greece without travel documents had been prohibited from making applications for asylum and had been forced to swim across a river into Turkey.

A Greek diplomat said it was possible that people were being held in metal containers "before being moved into more suitable centres". Such temporary measures could be necessary, he added, if ships carrying asylum-seekers arrived at Greek ports late at night.

The diplomat added that Greece had been striving to accommodate large numbers of migrants and that it now has about one million non-Greek nationals out of a population of 10 million. "We are doing our best," he said.

Greek left-wing MEP Dimitros Papadimoulis said that the Commission should adopt a tough stance with his country's authorities.

Article reports on the infringement proceedings initialled by the European Commission against the Greek authorities for not implementing the 2003 Directive on minimum standards for the reception of asylum-seekers. The deadline for doing so had been 6 February 2005. A reasoned opinion was sent to Athens, a preliminary step in a legal proceeding that could culminate in a ruling by the European Court of Justice.

Amnesty International: Report: Greece. Out of the Spotlight. The rights of foreigners and minorities are still a grey area, 5.10.05 http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur250162005

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