Author
Article 59(1) of the Asylum Code provides that material reception conditions must provide asylum seekers with an adequate standard of living that guarantees their subsistence and protects their physical and mental health, based on respect for human dignity.
On 27 September 2023, after many years, the launch of a complaints mechanism operating under the responsibility of the fundamental rights officer (FRO) of the MoMA was announced.[1] As per the relevant announcement and guidance published by the MoMA, the mechanism is accessible to any third-country national who considers they have been “directly affected by state actions or omissions and […] that one or more of his/her fundamental rights have been violated due to those actions or omissions, during access to territory and/or reception and/or asylum procedures in Greece”.[2] Complaints need to submitted in writing and by name, and can either be filled online, in a relevant section established on the MoMA’s website, or sent by email or post to the MoMA’s FRO.
Though in principle a positive development, the requirement for complainants to submit a complaint in writing, which can currently only be done either in Greek or English,[3] and by name, seems to a priori hinder applicant’s potential for accessing this mechanism on their own, either on account of language barriers or due to potential fear of disclosing their name in a document that may attribute fundamental rights violations to actions or omission of the Greek administration, while their asylum applications are still pending. Therefore, the effectiveness of this mechanism remains to be seen.
Conditions in temporary accommodation facilities on the mainland
Living conditions in the mainland camps vary depending on the facilities, as different types of accommodation and services are offered at each site. Therefore, although camps are never suitable for long-term accommodation, compliance with the standards of the recast Reception Conditions Directive should be assessed against the situation prevailing in each camp.
On this point, it needs to be flagged that increasingly throughout 2023, amidst the handover of site management activities to the Greek state, the situation in mainland camps has evolved into one where less (independent) actors are present or regularly accessing the camps. This has resulted in further hindering effective oversight vis-à-vis reception conditions on the mainland, particularly since IOM stopped publishing data on mainland camps in March 2022, and has been raised as a main concern/gap by actors during the year.[4]
Further compounding this gap is the comparative lack of media attention to the prevailing situation in mainland –as opposed to island– facilities, even though mainland camps have similar to those on the islands been gradually transformed into prison-like, high security settings for the reception of a vulnerable population group (i.e., asylum applicants),[5] with the prevailing environment having direct ramifications on residents’ wellbeing.
As noted in an open letter by 32 Refugee Education Coordinators (RECs) working in the camps in May 2023[6]:
“[W]here either the model of “Closed Controlled Centers” (CAACs), such as in Samos, Leros and Kos, or the “Reception and Identification Centres” (RICs), such as in Diavata, Malakasa or Fylakio, Evros, is already applied, or even where the so-called ‘controlled’ living model is promoted, such as in the various ‘Controlled Facilities for Temporary Accommodation of Asylum Seekers’ (particularly) in the mainland, extremely damaging conditions are created for the well-being of both the refugee children themselves and their families in general. These conditions create, first of all, anxiety for the psychosocial and learning development of the children we support and, secondly, discomfort, giving us the feeling that we are now working in an ‘open prison’ environment.”
As further noted in their letter,[7] this model of reception, which as stressed by the RECs inter alia amounts to applicants’ accommodation “in particularly remote areas and their enclosure by three-meter-high concrete walls […]; the creation of more and more internal, separate, clusters-cages for the different functions, which are shielded with double fencing and scaled wire mesh and guarded by private security companies; [and] the rapid understaffing of social and health services in terms of scientific staff, interpreters/translators, etc. and the parallel increase in security staff”, also inter alia:
- Creates insurmountable practical obstacles in children’s and young persons’ access to formal education, due to the distance between their place of residence from urban centers were public schools operate,
- Drastically limits possibilities to maintain communication with schoolmates and more broadly people of a similar age, given social integration activities that take place in the context of education become impossible, due to their isolation and the parallel inability of non-residents to access [the camps],
- prevents refugee parents and guardians from communicating with their children’s teachers and with the parents and guardians of children in the local communities, thus nullifying one of the fundamental functions of the educational community,
- creates a suffocating living environment for children and their families, as well as for all those living in spatial isolation, which creates a series of intense psychopathological consequences and reproduces social stigma.
Amidst a significant and widening gap with regards to information concerning living conditions in the mainland camps, limited publications such as the preceding one, seem to reconfirm that, even though living conditions in the mainland have been in general terms reported as better than those on the island CCACs throughout the years,[8] they still remain unfit for purpose, particularly on account of their prison-like nature and isolation from society, which results in hindering both applicants’ access to services and prospects of integration.
Illustratively, out of 22 people residing in mainland camps interviewed under a joint project by GCR, Diotima Centre, and IRC between mid-November 2021 and 1 March 2022, 50% stated that they could not easily reach necessary services (e.g., hospitals) outside of the camp, and 60% that they did not have a chance to get to know the Greek society or meet Greek people, due to the isolated nature of their accommodation.[9]
The negative impact of isolated, camp-based accommodation to integration prospects was also highlighted in a UNHCR-commissioned study published in December 2023, which based on a survey carried out between May-July 2022, over a sample of more than 3,700 asylum applicants, including applicants rejected at first instance and beneficiaries of international protection, inter alia found much lower levels of integration amongst applicants and beneficiaries accommodated in camps, compared to those being accommodated in the urban fabric (e.g., through ESTIA or Helios support) and particularly those self-accommodated.[10]
The “persisting challenges, particularly concerning the remote location [of camps] which hampers accessibility of vital services, such as health care and psychological support, as well as access to employment opportunities and interaction with local communities – essential for integration” were also flagged in February 2024 by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, during a two-day visit to Greece.[11]
Ιn January 2023, a 45-year-old Congolese national residing in Ritsona camp was found dead in his shelter. Reportedly,[12] during the night, the man had been complaining of feeling chest pains and requested medical support. As further reported,[13] the facility, which was at the time accommodating roughly 2,000 persons, lacked sufficient medical personnel, had only one first aid station that was not operational during night hours. Though an ambulance was called, as per complaints by the camp’s residents, it arrived with delay and the man was confirmed dead upon his belated arrival at the hospital in Chalkida (roughly 15 km away). Residents of the facility reacted by demanding adequate health coverage.
Amongst the factors further hindering accessibility to necessary services outside the camps were also ongoing gaps and challenges with respect to the availability of transportation or lack of resources to access it when available, which to different degrees continued being reported throughout 2023.[14]
As noted by a single mother from Afghanistan, residing in the Malakasa camp, in March 2023[15]:
“I feel like I am living in hell. I have been in Greece for three months now, but time feels like not passing. I am so stressed about my asylum interview, that will take place in a few days. I just feel desperate and afraid most of the time. I stay inside the container with the lights off. I have been in Athens only to visit my psychologist and my lawyer. I received the financial support last month for the first time. In the beginning I had no help. I had to take the train to visit my psychologist but I had no money for the ticket. I could register my asylum application after some weeks, and only after that I received the Cash-Card. In the meanwhile, IOM started helping me with my transfers to Athens. But now they told me that they have stopped working in the camp and they’ll only come for urgent cases. That makes me more worried. I even lost my last appointment with the psychologist in Athens because the transportation services were cut and there are still no trains. I feel a lot of pressure and stress.”
Similar gaps and/or complete lack of transportation services in mainland camps, leading to the severe disruption of camp residents’ ability to access their rights, including the asylum procedure, their lawyers, psychosocial care, or hospitals and medication for those in need of regular treatment, were reported in both March and April 2023.[16]
Efforts to address these gaps were subsequently and partially undertaken by IOM, which under the HARP project resumed the provision of remote transportation services (bus transportation) for people residing in the mainland camps of Andravida, Ritsona, Thiva, Nea kavala, Vagiochori, and Koutsochero,[17] at least up to June, when the project was finalised. Following this, transportation started being provided under the RIS from the mainland camps to the nearest urban centers in July 2023, yet practical challenges, such as buses not being in use in Nea Kavala camp,[18] continued being reported up to the end of the year, when provision of transportation services was reported as more stable.[19]
Regarding housing arrangements, with very few exceptions, by March 2022, amidst the significant reduction in arrivals, there had been a similar significant reduction in the use of unsuitable/emergency units (i.e., tents) for the purposes of accommodating camp residents, who at the time were instead accommodated in comparatively more suitable units, such as containers, apartments/rooms, and shelters.[20] Whether and to what extent this was still the case in 2023, particularly following the increase in arrivals and the concomitant increase in the number of persons transferred from the islands to the mainland, is not possible to assess given the lack of relevant public data. Yet, infrastructural damages, due to physical wear and tear or misuse were reported with respect to the sewage system and housing units in Ritsona camp, in March 2023.[21]
In September 2023, following the devastating flood that struck the region of Thessaly in Central Greece, the authorities announced and immediately evacuated the population of asylum seekers residing in the Koutsochero camp, which numbered over 900 people, including children and vulnerable people. The authorities decided the evacuation of the shelter as a mitigating means to provide accommodation to the flood victims from the affected areas. Yet, the camp’s residents were transferred without prior notice, proper preparation, and consideration of their particular needs to other infrastructures in Volos, Katsikas, Thermopylae, and Malakasa. GCR expressed its profound concern regarding the implementation of this measure, as the competent authorities did not provide any information on the conditions of the structures where asylum seekers were transferred, regarding the infrastructure, staffing, access to fundamental goods, psychosocial support, and medical care.[22]
Beyond these points, effective reporting on reception conditions in the mainland stumbles upon the lack of public data and the aforementioned ability of independent actors to maintain effective oversight, which needs to be addressed in itself as an increasingly concerning gap.
Conditions on the Eastern Aegean islands
The situation on the islands has been widely documented and has remained alarming throughout the years, with increased arrivals in the second half of 2023 marking a return to conditions of overcrowding observed in previous years and an accentuation of ongoing challenges.
Between January and December 2023, a total of 25,686 persons were transferred to the mainland from the islands of Lesvos (8,438), Samos (4,506), Chios (1,493), Kos (6,211), Leros (2,918) or from other islands (2,170).[23] Despite these increased efforts, by the end of December 2023, 15,914 persons were still residing in facilities with a designated nominal capacity of 17,737 places, resulting in near all facilities operating beyond their reported capacity.[24]
Namely, on 31 December 2023, the CCAC of Chios, with a reported capacity of 1,014 places, was hosting 1,082 people, the CCAC of Samos, with a reported capacity of 3,650, was hosting 3,890, the CCAC of Leros, with a reported capacity of 2,150, was hosting 2,192, and the CCAC of Kos, with a reported capacity of 2,923, was hosting 3,360. The Lesvos CCAC, on the other hand, with a reported capacity of 8,000 was hosting 5,390.[25]
That being said, as per observations in the field in 2022, which were renewed in 2023, reported capacity does not necessarily equate to the actual capacity of CCACs. For instance, as reported during the Lesvos Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting, which operates under UNHCR, on 19 January 2022, due to increased arrivals, the CCAC Director had informed that shelter availability in the Lesvos CCAC had become scarce, impacting on living conditions. Yet at the time, the CCAC reportedly hosted 1,920 persons, which was significantly less than the facility’s reported capacity, which, as per official data, stood at 8,000 places at the time.[26]
Likewise, in September 2023, RSA reported the overnight increase in the officially reported capacity for the Samos CCAC, which without any explanation was increased from 2,040 to 3,659 places.[27] Beyond overcrowding, testimonies refer to conditions of confinement and excessive surveillance. At the same time, there are significant shortages, particularly of medical and psychosocial staff, interpretation services, and of providing basic necessities (food, bedding, hot water, milk intended for children, medication) and decent accommodation. Indicatively, in the same report, RSA highlights how during 2023 new arrivals in the Samos CCAC have been forced to sleep on the floor, without mattresses, in a room originally intended to serve as a restaurant, due to the lack of actual accommodation places. Additionally, those residing in the public areas are subjects of constant surveillance, as the CCTV System inside the restaurant operates unceasingly on a 24/7 basis, violating the individual’s privacy.[28]
On 18 September 2023, in a case supported by the Human Rights Legal Project, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) granted interim measures in a case concerning a vulnerable single mother, survivor of gender-based violence, and her 6 months-old daughter, who has a congenital heart disease. The applicants had arrived in Samos in August of the same year and had been assisted by MsF, who had asked for the applicants’ immediate transfer to the island’s General Hospital, where the applicants were informed that they should be transferred to Athens, in order for the minor to be able receive proper medical care. Despite this, the applicants were taken back to the Samos CCAC, where they remained de facto detained pending reception and identification procedures and the registration of their asylum application for close to a month. The Court indicated to the Greek government to ensure that the minor applicant be provided with appropriate medical care and that both applicants be ensured adequate living conditions, taking into account their extreme vulnerability.[29]
Less than five months later, on 7 February 2024, the ECtHR once more granted interim measures in a case represented by the organisation I Have Rights, concerning yet again a single mother and her infant child (the applicants) in the Samos CCAC. The applicants had been detained upon arrival to the CCAC in degrading conditions, without an assessment of their vulnerabilities. They were forced to share a bunk bed with an unrelated adult man and were humiliated by being forced to remain in the same clothes for weeks on end. They were also without access to medical treatment and relied on others to collect food on their behalf due to fears for their safety, as the line for food was hours long, with fights often breaking out. Additionally, the mental health of the woman rapidly deteriorated since arriving to the CCAC and there were concerns as to the health of the infant who had not been provided with a cot, toys, sufficient diapers or access to medical checkups. The Court ordered the Greek authorities to urgently accommodate the applicants in a safe and suitable accommodation and to ensure they are provided with adequate food, water, clothing and medical care.[30]
On 30 November 2023, in the case of D.S. v Greece (Application no. 2080/2019) represented by GCR, the ECtHR also found Greece in violation of article 3 (prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) and articles 3 and 13 (right to effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights, on account of the inhuman, degrading and unsafe living conditions to which a young single woman applicant was exposed to during her stay in the former reception facility of Samos, for specific periods of time in 2018 and 2019. The Court further took into account but rejected the Greek Government’s arguments that the applicant had not been identified as a vulnerable person by the authorities and that the country had been facing an unprecedented migratory flow during the critical period which made the authorities’ choices difficult. On the contrary, the Court noted that, in view of the migration flow, the authorities did not do everything that could reasonably be expected of them to ensure decent material conditions for the applicant.
On 5 October 2023, in the case of E.F. v. Greece represented by HIAS Greece, the ECtHR similarly found Greece in violations of articles 3 and 13 ECHR, in a case concerning a vulnerable HIV-positive woman who developed highly aggressive HIV-related blood cancer, as a result of the Greek authorities’ acts and omissions. The applicant, a victim of torture, who contracted HIV in her country of origin as a result of rape and was under antiretroviral treatment, was unable to receive in Lesvos, where she had arrived in December 2019. After being forced to leave in completely undignified conditions in Moria, she only ended up having access to medical treatment 6 months after her arrival, after fainting in a mainland camp where she had been transferred at the time. As a result of the discontinuation of her treatment, her illness progressed from HIV to AIDS, and she developed advanced HIV-related highly aggressive blood cancer, which spread to her cervix, putting her life at risk. The Court found that the 6-month delay in ensuring her access to treatment was entirely attributable to the Greek authorities, who the Court found had failed to take all the measures that could reasonably be expected of them in order to protect the applicant’s health.[31]
Though both these decisions concern, amongst others, reception conditions in facilities that are no longer in use, in conjunction with relevant measures indicated by the Court both in previous years,[32] and in cases concerning residents of the new island CCACs, they further highlight the consistently recurring violations of the fundamental rights of asylum applicants recorded on the islands, including in the new – EU funded – facilities.[33]
Regarding Leros and Kos, as noted by the Head of UNHCR’s office in the Dodecanese in October 2023, “There are more people in the facilities [of Kos and Leros] than their capacity can withstand. […] There are problems […] both at the level of delays in registration and with respect to overcrowding and shortages in food items and in medical needs, while the shortages in basic necessities are also dire”.[34]
On 12 December 2023, in a case represented by GCR, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) granted interim measures with regards two Afghan women and their five accompanied minor children (the applicants), who following their arrival had been residing in the CCAC of Kos, in completely unsuitable conditions. On account of overcrowding, the applicants, single women with minor children, who were pending registration, were not provided accommodation and were, instead, placed alongside unrelated single men in the facility’s restaurant area, where they were de facto detained, forced to live and sleep on the floor, in unsanitary conditions, without access to necessary healthcare, without privacy, and exposed to harassment and to the risk of gender-based violence. The ECtHR ordered the Greek authorities to ensure that the Applicants “have full access to reception conditions which respect human dignity and take into account their multiple vulnerabilities“.[35]
In what concerns Lesvos, in a joint statement in September 2023,[36] 17 civil society organisations once more raised the alarm over prevalent conditions in the island CCAC, despite efforts to improve them. The organisations inter alia noted the severe lack in medical and psychosocial staff, as well as interpreters; the insufficient availability of dignified accommodation places, with many applicants forced to reside in rub halls, with no privacy or partitions, and forced to share rooms and containers with complete strangers, often without a mattress; and the lack of appropriate measures for the protection of particularly vulnerable applicants, such as UAM, single mothers and GBV survivors, who have been forced to reside for prolonged periods of time in a former “quarantine area”, amidst a sharp increase in arrivals.
As in previous years,[37] challenges were once more reported during the winter months, especially in December 2023, with respect to Lesvos CCAC’s residents’, and in particular those residing in rub halls, exposure to winter conditions. During the same month, lack of heating throughout the CCAC was also reported, as were challenges with regards to the availability of hot water, adequate lighting, and non-functional showers.[38] Challenges with the stable supply of electricity in the Lesvos CCAC continued to be reported in the first months of 2023 and were reportedly expected to be resolved towards the end of March.[39] Yet lack of access to electricity in some sections of the CCAC were still reported in October 2023.[40]
In 2023, as in the previous year,[41] infrastructure-related problems, in particular concerning the stable supply of water, continued being reported in the Samos CCAC in 2023 and early 2024, during which continuous supply of water was interrupted for a seven-day period, amidst an outbreak of scabies and other skin disorders due to overcrowding.[42] As noted by the Minister of Migration and Asylum, in the context of a written reply to a parliamentary question in October,[43] “since April 2023 and for reasons of objective difficulties related to […] unforeseeable weather conditions (lack of rainfall and consequent water scarcity on the island of Samos), the system of controlled water supply interruption was applied in the Closed Controlled structure of Samos for a few hours during the day”. As per the same reply, efforts to address these shortages were inter alia pursued in collaboration with the Municipality of Samos, resulting in the provision of 15 cubic meters of water per day to the facility, and transportation of water to the facility via water carriers, following the conclusion of a contract for the supply of 2,307 cubic meters of water for filling the facility’s water reservoirs. Yet while welcome, such solutions seem to be temporary in nature, and given concurrent nature of such challenges, seem to further underscore the fallacies of an EU policy focused on receiving applicants in remote facilities at the borders.
The islands Centres’ location is usually remote, away from the island’s cities (also see The European Union policy framework: ‘hotspots’). In combination with their difficult access, due to cost of public transportation, this adds a significant barrier for the centres’ residents to access health care or administrative services. The geographical, and thus social, isolation exacerbates the feeling of imprisonment for asylum seekers residing in reception centres on the islands. For example, Zervou camp in Samos is a closed centre surrounded by a double layer of barbed wire and camera surveillance where entry and exit are only allowed between 8 am – 8 pm. According to the testimony of a 23-year-old man from Afghanistan residing in the camp: ‘When you arrive at the camp doors, one by one they let you inside, to the checkpoint where they check your phone, wallet, pockets, and even the small pockets of your clothes. Then when you want to go inside you have to pass through doors with fingerprints.’[44]
These inadequate and dangerous conditions have dire consequences on asylum seekers’ mental health. Following a number of relevant reports on the mental health impact issued amongst others by MsF in previous years,[45] in February 2023, Equal Rights Beyond Borders and Terre des Hommes raised the alarm on the severely deficient conditions prevailing in the “safe area” of the Kos CCAC designated for the accommodation of UAM. The organisations referred to a condition of constant surveillance of the area by designated security personnel which combined with the minors’ limited access to recreational activities and school leads to a sentiment of confinement and impacts their mental health.[46] Testimonies reveal instances of low-quality food, limited quantities of both food and drinking water, and insufficient provisions specifically for children. “We had reached the point of starvation,” one resident at the CCAC of Kos recounts to RSA. Additionally, at the end of March 2023, the shelter lacked medical professionals (doctors and psychologists), and essentials such as clothing and medicines were provided by volunteers.[47]
Similar dire conditions were reported in the Leros CCAC and the facility’s “safe area.” Shortages of medical personnel and deficiencies in necessities persist, mirroring the situation at the CCAC of Kos. According to the UNHCR, two doctors and one psychologist operated inside the facility, while citizens’ collectivity provided basic goods (clothing, shoes, and nappies for children).[48]
By 31 December 2023, despite for example the 2021 Decision of the European Committee on Social Rights indicating immediate measures and inter alia ordering the Greek Authorities to ensure that migrant children in RICs are provided with immediate access to age-appropriate shelters,[49] 27% of those residing in the island CCACs were children.[50]
Destitution
Destitution and homelessness still remain matters of concern, despite the efforts made in previous years to increase reception capacity in Greece (see Types of Accommodation). As stated by UNHCR in February 2020, ‘[h]ousing options and services to cater for the present population are scarce countrywide’.[51] Though the population of concern has since been significantly reduced, following the termination of ESTIA in December 2022, this has remained valid in 2022[52] and particularly in 2023, amidst the sharp increase in arrivals.
During 2023, this was nowhere more evident than in the island of Rhodes, which lacks any type of reception facility. As a result, the 6,290 persons reported to have arrived on the island from the start of the year to 10 December 2023, were forced to sleep in parks, pavements, squares, on cardboard boxes, tents and other makeshift shelters, with no access to reception conditions.[53] This was also on account of serious delays in their transfer to reception facilities on other islands and/or the mainland, further compounded by significant staff shortages inter alia raised in a November 2023 open letter of the Union of Police Officers of the Dodecanese, addressed to the head of the Hellenic Police.[54] Amidst limited efforts to provide newcomers with food by the Municipality of Rhodes, lack of food could have also become a more severe challenge, if not for local volunteers, whose support towards the newcomers, “well beyond their abilities”, was warmly welcomed by UNHCR’s representative for the Dodecanese islands in December 2023.[55] The prevailing situation, in conjunction with the state’s seeming inability to respond, including on account of the overstretched capacity of the reception system, and the resulting impact on disrupting local life, also led to reactions at the local level, with the vice-president of the Commercial Chamber of Rhodes, noting in November that “[t]his image of young children and destitute people sleeping in cardboard boxes is highly offensive to the island, which is supposed to be the flagship of tourism and hospitality. What will happen when it starts to rain? It’s a disgrace for everyone, especially the slow reflexes of the state apparatus.”[56]
Severe material hardships-deprivation, including in GCR’s experience through being called to use unwashed, scabies-infected bedsheets, or via the ad hoc use of improper facilities lacking even beds,[57] were also observed on the island of Crete, which similarly lacks any type of reception facility, following increased arrivals to the island in 2023, which have continued during 2024, further accentuating relevant challenges.[58] A similar situation has developed in Gavdos, which likewise lacks any type of reception facility.[59]
In what concerns the Greek mainland, challenges throughout 2023 in accessing asylum, on account of the shortcomings of the MoMA’s newly established online registration system, aside from exposing applicants to the risk of arbitrary detention, have also significantly increased the risk of extreme material deprivation for those waiting for their asylum claims to be registered, during which time they lack access to reception conditions.[60]
Vulnerable persons have also continued facing destitution or related risks. For instance, a May 2023 report by Intersos Hellas, HIAS Greece and GCR, flags how some 5,900 individuals, the majority of whom minors (54%) and their families, residing in Athens, have been increasingly forced to reach out to a food programme run by Intersos Hellas, in collaboration with the Greek Forum of Migrants, during the first months of 2023, on account of being faced with moderate to severe levels of food insecurity. Amongst the people benefiting from the programme, near all of whom (99.9%) were third country nationals with different legal statuses in Greece, close to 15% were identified as asylum applicants, while another 21% were people without legal documents, including asylum seekers that had not yet had the opportunity to register their application.[61]
High levels of food insecurity amongst asylum applicants (including applicants rejected at first instance) and beneficiaries of international protection were also found in a December 2023 research study commissioned by UNHCR, as part of which more than 3,700 persons were surveyed between May and July 2022. As noted in the study, 70% of women respondents and 62% of men respondents had reported being forced to skip meals in the four weeks preceding their participation in the survey, as a (negative) coping mechanism for dealing with economic hardships. An additional 7% of women respondents and 6% of men respondents had reported that a child in their household had to work during the same interval, for the same reason.[62]
Lastly, the impact of a new practice identified in Samos, discussed in previous sections, amounting to the lifting of the geographical restriction for newly arrived applicants, on condition of virtually renouncing their right to reception conditions, needs to also be checked for its potential contribution to enhancing the risk of destitution for applicants, at least for as long as applicants continue not receiving sufficient information, in a language they understand, on the potential consequences of their choice, in order to be able to make fully informed decisions.
In any event, in order for the Greek authorities’ compliance with their obligations relating to reception conditions to be assessed, the number of available reception places that are in line with the standards of the recast Reception Conditions Directive should also be assessed against the total number of persons with pending asylum applications, i.e., 32,730 by the end of 2023, as per the MoMA’s published data.[63]
Racist violence
During 2022, the Racist Violence Recording Network (RVRN), coordinated by UNHCR and the Greek National Commission for Human Rights, recorded a total of 74 incidents of racist violence, 33 of which concerned migrants, refugees and asylum applicants on account of their ethnic origin, religion or color.[64] In the majority of these incidents, the victims were men (27), in 5 the victims were women, while in 1 the victims were both men and women of different ages, including minors. In what concerns main nationalities, most of the victims were from Pakistan (8), followed by nationals of Afghanistan (7) and Palestinians (5), while in terms of their legal status, in the majority of incidents (11) the victims were asylum applicants, in 7 incidents the victims were beneficiaries of international protection and in 9 incidents third country nationals with different legal statuses, including undocumented persons. In 2 incidents the victims had mixed legal statuses, while in 4 the victims were unaccompanied minors.[65]
During the same year, a total of 126 incidents were recorded by the Hellenic Police. In 66 of these incidents, the motive seems to have regarded the victims’ ethnic origin, in 7 cases their genealogical background, in 10 cases their color, in 8 cases their religion, in 9 cases their sexual orientation, in 16 cases their gender identity, and in 7 cases disabilities. The remainder of cases either regarded unspecified motives (10) or other motives (74).[66]
As noted by RVRN,[67] based on the Network’s findings, the main patterns identified in 2022 are “the existence of racism in everyday life, the occurrence of incidents of organised racist violence, albeit to a limited extent, and the targeting of human rights defenders within Greek territory, especially those operating at the borders”, while the Network also recorded incidents in which the perpetrators either wore uniforms or were civil servants. While noting a decrease, compared to previous years,[68] on the number of incidents of extreme racist violence perpetrated by organized groups, the RVRN also reported an ongoing pattern of under-reporting of racist violence incidents, flagging, in line with its findings of previous years, that “a significant number of victims do not report [such incidents] out of fear of secondary victimisation or re-victimisation”.[69]
As identified by RVRN,[70] amongst the factors contributing to this pattern of under-reporting and fear from the victims’ side, while “fueling the feeling of impunity” on the side of perpetrators, is also the significant number of recorded incidents where the perpetrators were identified, by the victims, as “representatives of the state and indeed [from state bodies] with the competence to protect”.
Namely, in 20% of incidents recorded in 2022, most of which regarded refugees and migrants, as well as Roma citizens, the perpetrators were identified as uniformed personnel of the Greek security forces, with most incidents taking place at the Greek borders, in reception facilities or detention facilities, including in police precincts. In many of these incidents the level of violence was also particularly high, with victims inter alia reporting being held without clothing or found by human rights defenders handcuffed, in a forest area near the borders, after reportedly being brutally beaten by a group of men in black clothes, with their faces covered, which were carrying weapons and radio equipment. In at least one of these cases, the victim had been the subject of racist-motivated attacks in 2021 as well, when they had asked their employer, a police officer themselves, to be paid what they were owed for their work. Instead, the employer had called the police, who, as reported by the victim, threatened them and other employees with the use of a firearm upon arriving.[71]
In what concerns 2023, though the RVRN’s relevant report had not yet been issued by the time of writing, a number of incidents with racist elements have come to public attention.
Two of these incidents, reported by the United Against Racism and the Racist Threat Movement (ΚΕΕΡΦΑ), concerned attacks against migrant workers – one of which at the victim’s workplace– in the broader area of Athens on 15 June and 9 July 2023 respectively. In both cases, the victims were both verbally and physically attacked, with the Movement attributing the attacks to the “whetted appetite” of fascist groups, after the entry of the far-right Spartans party in the Greek Parliament, following the summer national elections.[72]
A month later, in August 2023, a young Pakistani national was found dead in another area of Athens, which has been known as an area where migrant workers are frequently attacked by fascist groups. The perpetrators of the act, four Greek nationals aged between 18 and 20 years, were apprehended by the police, which in a relevant announcement seems to have concluded the motive behind the act was the perpetrators’ intention to rob the victim. Yet, elements of the incident, such as the victims’ belongings, including their phone, being found next to their body instead of being taken, or the mode of the attack (stabbing, including at the victim’s heart), which was reminiscent of the racist-motivated murders of Shahzad Luqman and Pavlos Fyssas, have raised questions over the perpetrators’ actual motive.[73]
Lastly, in the same month, amidst one of the most devastating fires in recent memory that broke out in the region of Evros, a noticeable increase in racist speech and calls to relevant action against refugees and migrants broke out in social media, strengthened by statements made even by representatives of the Greek parliament, who tried to attribute the cause of the fires to the actions of people on the move. As reported, several ‘self-appointed sheriffs’ took it upon themselves to manage what they perceived as the problem, and started patrolling the area and arresting migrants, while publicizing their actions via social media.[74]
Amidst this rise of racist-motivated vigilantism, the most well-known incident concerns the actions of three residents of Evros, who virtually abducted a total of 13 third country nationals, forcibly placing them in a trolley, pillorying them, and posting videos of the act in which highly derogatory language is used to describe the captives (“pieces”). The perpetrators were apprehended and prosecuted on a number of grounds, while in December, the competent Prosecutor recommended for the perpetrators to be prosecuted on the basis of a racist-motivated crime. The 13 former captives were acquitted as they were found to be in no way linked to acts of arson of forest land, albeit the Prosecutor recommended their prosecution on grounds of illegal entry.[75]
Commenting on the incident, in a 25 August announcement,[76] the RVRN inter alia expressed its concern over the non-isolated nature of such incidents, while flagging the “deteriorating climate against refugees and migrants in the political and public discourse”. On this point, it is worth recalling that in an August parliamentary debate, the Greek Prime Minister also alluded to the potential implication of third country nationals in the raging Evros fires, stating that “It is sort of (περίπου) certain that the cause of the fire in Evros is man-made” and that “It is sort of (περίπου) certain that this fire started on routes used by illegal migrants”,[77] with Vouliwatch attributing these statements, amongst others, to an attempt “to stir up xenophobic reflexes [in an effort] to shift the debate away from any responsibility of the state”.[78] The RVRN also “underscored [that], such phenomena normalize, encourage, and ultimately escalate racist reactions, firstly in the media and social media, that sometimes result in attacks on the street, with the clear risk of irreparably disrupting social cohesion”.
[1] MoMA, Launch of the Complaints Mechanism, 27 September 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/8wyzzk2r.
[2] MoMA, Complaint Form, general guidance, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3nhnsumz, p.1.
[3] Ibid.
[4] For instance, this was raised as a main concern by actors during the 16 May 2023 National Protection Working Group, which is organised and chaired by UNHCR, and currently co-chaired by GCR.
[5] As per information exchanged and further concerns raised during the same 16 May 2023 National Protection Working Group.
[6] The letter was inter alia published by EfSyn. See EfSyn, RECs: Educational integration of refugee children does not fit in closed centres, 11 May 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/4mes767c.
[7] Ibid.
[8] For instance, UNHCR, Greece Update No.16: Lesvos, 9 March 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3opJQkl.
[9] Additionally, 10 described their living conditions in the camps as “very bad”, 8 as “Bad” and 4 as “neither good nor bad”, while in 68% of the cases, respondents stated that they do not feel safe in the camp, 60% felt forced to share accommodation with people they did not know and/or with whom they did not wish to be jointly accommodated, and 64% complained that the place they lived in was not clean. Data collected through a joint questionnaire prepared by GCR, Diotima Centre, and IRC in the context of the joint project prepared by GCR, Diotima Centre and IRC, ‘Do the human right thing–Raising our Voice for Refugee Rights’. The project is implemented under the Active citizens fund program, which is supported through a € 12m grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as part of the EEA Grants 2014 -2021, and is operated in Greece by the Bodossaki Foundation in consortium with SolidarityNow. As of 1 March 2022, 188 such questionnaires have been collected, albeit only 22 were filled by people specifically residing in mainland camps.
[10] Casalis M. et.al., Home for Good? Obstacles and Opportunities for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Greece, December 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/ycyacy57, pp. 41-42.
[11] UNHCR, UN High Commissioner for Refugees wraps up visit to Greece: welcomes progress on integration and urges continued efforts, 22 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdepjsbh.
[12] To Kouti tis Pandoras, Dead refugee in Ritsona facility, 16 January 2023, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3n2wmid.
[13] 902.gr, The death of a refugee in Ritsona proves the deterioration of health structures, 18 January 2023, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3HeP7WG.
[14] Inter alia, as per information acquired during the 17 March 2023 protection working group for Northern Greece, which is organised under UNHCR.
[15] RSA, Refugee women in the offside: Greece encampment policy and services takeover lead to isolation and deny protection, 21 March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3lxoPqX.
[16] Information provided during the 11 April 2023 National Protection Working Group which is organised and chaired by UNHCR and currently co-chaired by GCR. Also see RSA, Refugee women in the offside Greece encampment policy and services takeover lead to isolation and deny protection, 21 March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3lxoPqX.
[17] Information provided during the 16 May 2023 National Protection Working Group which is organised and chaired by UNHCR and currently co-chaired by GCR.
[18] Information provided during the 27 September 2023 National Protection Working Group which is organised and chaired by UNHCR and currently co-chaired by GCR.
[19] As per information provided during the 22 February 2024 National Protection Working Group which is organised and chaired by UNHCR and currently co-chaired by GCR.
[20] IOM, Supporting the Greek Authorities in Managing the National Reception System for Asylum Seekers and Vulnerable Migrants (SMS), March 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/43mIVEv.
[21] As per the MoMA’s reply on 16 March 2023 to a relevant question tabled before the Greek Parliament, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3vZBwQG.
[22] GCR, Flood victims and refugees displaced in the same fate, 15 September 2023, available in Greek at https://tinyurl.com/j9s527uu.
[23] MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports – Overview: December 2023 – International Protection | Appendix A, available at: https://tinyurl.com/533t33jw, table 2.
[24] National Coordination Centre for border Control, Immigration and Asylum, National Situational Picture regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (31/12/2023), 1 January 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3OFlP83.
[25] Ibid.
[26] For instance, see NCCBCIA, National Situational Picture Regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (19/01/2022), 20 January 2022 and National Situational Picture Regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (31/12/2022), 1 January 2023. Both can also be accessed on the MoMA’s website at: https://bit.ly/3OFlP83, under the label ‘National Situation: Migrant and Refugee Issue’.
[27] RSA, Disgraceful living conditions in the ‘state-of-the-art’ Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) of Samos, 6 February 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3WelY5Z.
[28] RSA, What is happening today in the refugee structures on the Aegean islands, May 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/40ZUNus.
[29] HRLP, Interim measures granted by the ECtHR for a woman and her daughter on Samos, 18 September 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yf5h7btx.
[30] I Have Rights, Degrading conditions in Samos CCAC: The European Court of Human Rights grants Interim Measures, 7 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yac4cmuc.
[31] HIAS Greece, The European Court of Human Rights Unanimously Condemns the Greek Government for Depriving an HIV-positive Asylum Seeker From Access to Antiretroviral Treatment, 9 October 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/2sr3prmt.
[32] For more, AIDA, Country Report Greece: 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45vXAir, pp. 176-177.
[33] GCR, European Court of Human Rights condemns Greece for the degrading living conditions of a young single woman refugee in Samos, 18 December 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3rjr2a3.
[34] ERT, UNHCR: Urgent need to decongest the refugee facilities of Leros – Kos, 24 October 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/y2pc9z64.
[35] GCR, Absolutely inadequate conditions in the new Closed Controlled Access Center (CCAC) of Kos: The European Court of Human Rights has granted Interim Measures, 14 December 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/46rjsrjr.
[36] Joint NGO Statement, Three Years After Moria Burned Down the Promise “No More Moria’s” Remains an Empty One, 8 September 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/4bb5taac.
[37] For instance, AIDA, Country Report Greece: 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45vXAir, pp. 174-175.
[38] As per information shared during the 14 December 2023 Lesvos Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting, which operates under UNHCR.
[39] Based on information shared during the Lesvos Inter-Agency Coordination Meetings, operating under UNHCR, on 15 February 2023 and 27 March 2023.
[40] As per information shared during the 5 October 2023 Lesvos Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting, which operates under UNHCR.
[41] AIDA, Country Report Greece: 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45vXAir, pp. 174-175.
[42] RSA, Disgraceful living conditions in the ‘state-of-the-art’ Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) of Samos, 6 February 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3WelY5Z.
[43] MoMA, reply to parliamentary question no. 721/14.09.2023, 20 October 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/3zdbtwzh.
[44] FENIX Humanitarian Aid, One year since Greece opened new ‘prison-like’refugee camps, NGOs call for a more humane approach, 20 September 20, available at: https://bit.ly/3WAQZiZ.
[45] AIDA, Country Report Greece: 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45vXAir, pp. 175-176.
[46] Equal Rights Beyond Borders, Terre des Hommes, Unaccompanied Minors on Kos are deprived of their liberty and childhood, February 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yc2y9puj.
[47] Refugee Support Aegean, Kos, What is happening today in the refugee structures on the Aegean islands, https://rsaegean.org/en/kos-2023/.
[48] Refugee Support Aegean, Leros, What is happening today in the refugee structures on the Aegean islands, https://rsaegean.org/en/leros-2023/.
[49] European Committee of Social Rights, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) v. Greece, Complaint No. 173/2018, 26 January 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3xRs3vf.
[50] UNHCR, Aegean Islands Weekly Snapshot 25 – 31 December (Greek version), available at: https://tinyurl.com/yf8n3s98.
[51] UNHCR, Factsheet, Greece: 1-29 February 2020, 29 February 2020, available at: https://tinyurl.com/h7xz7584.
[52] AIDA, Country Report Greece: 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45vXAir, pp. 179-181.
[53] RSA, Rhodes: Newly arrived refugees with no shelter and adequate food, at the mercy of winter, 21 December 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/448Y5Pt.
[54] Rodiaki, The police officers of the Dodecanese ask for the chief of the Hellenic Police to fulfil his responsibilities, 3 November 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/44v8fe5c.
[55] ERT, Th. Stamos: Homeless refugees in Rhodes – Challenges in the facilities of Kos and Leros, 19 December 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/y9jce7tn.
[56] Kathimerini, “Wave of outrage – Improvised camps in the centre of Rhodes, 3 November 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/yc5664vh.
[57] See RSA, Crete and Gavdos have no reception and identification procedures despite the increased arrivals, 19 December 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/29398fmw.
[58] NeaKriti, Chania: the migrant accommodation points at full – 187 persons in an open parking of the Port Authority, 10 March 2024, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/39x8dfk9.
[59] For more, RSA, Crete and Gavdos have no reception and identification procedures despite the increased arrivals, 19 December 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/29398fmw.
[60] Also see MIT & RLS, Protection Unavailable: Dysfunctional Practices and Restrictions on the Right to Asylum, November 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/53xzvpes, particularly pp. 26 et seq; Joint CSO Statement, Shutdown of the Greek Asylum Service: Database Leaves People Unable To Claim Asylum And in Limbo, 21 June 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/338z4d59.
[61] See Intersos Hellas, HIAS Greece & GCR, Being Hungry in Europe: An analysis of the Food Insecurity experienced by Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Migrants and Undocumented People in Greece, May 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdzde7hj, pp. 11-21.
[62] Casalis M. et.al., Home for Good? Obstacles and Opportunities for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Greece, December 2023, available at https://tinyurl.com/ycyacy57, p. 31.
[63] MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports – Overview: December 2023 – International Protection | Appendix A, available at: https://tinyurl.com/533t33jw, table 11a.
[64] In another incident the motive seems to have been the victim’s ethnic origin, as much as their sexual orientation, in another one the victims were Greek citizens, targeted on account of their ethnic origin, while in 2 incidents the targets were a mosque and a holocaust memorial. In the reminder of recorded cases (38), the victims were persons of the LGBTQI+ community. RVRN, Annual Report 2022, April 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/27bdrxje, p.5.
[65] Ibid. p. 15
[66] Ibid. p. 28.
[67] Ibid. p.5.
[68] On the reported situation in previous years, inter alia, see AIDA, Country Report Greece: 2022 Update, op.cit., pp. 181-183 and previous relevant reports, available at: https://bit.ly/3OFfA4i.
[69] Ibid. p.6.
[70] Ibid. p.25.
[71] Ibid. pp. 24-26.
[72] In.gr, KEERFA: Denounces racist fascist attacks on migrant workers in Sepolia and Peristeri, 10 July 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/khvkbm6f.
[73] In.gr, The murder of a 25-year-old Pakistani man was solved – 4 young men were arrested, 19 August 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/bde3snsw and Murder of Shiraz Shaftar: Who killed the migrant worker from Pakistan in Perissos?, 18 August 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/4289dytw.
[74] Kathimerini, Evros: Fires burn for the tenth day, vigilantism takes root, 28 August 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/34uvvfyk.
[75] EfSyn, Evros: Prosecutor’s proposal on racist crime for the “sheriffs” and exoneration for the migrants, 12 December 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/5a6fw57w.
[76] RVRN, Racist Violence Recording Network expresses serious concern over escalating targeting of refugees and migrants, 25 August 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3x6canzj.
[77] Ethnos, Mitsotakis: It is sort of certain that the fire in Evros was started by a human hand – It started from migrant routes”, 31 August 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/3ms5an7p.
[78] Vouliwatch, Mitsotakis: “It is certain that the fire in Evros was started by a human hand – It started from migrant routes, 31 August 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/nav45vyv.