Brussels, 15/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission addressed a second recommendation to Greece on Wednesday 15 June so that transfers of asylum seekers can resume from other member states back to Greece.
These transfers, under the current Dublin regulation which establishes the member state responsible for handling asylum applications, have de facto been suspended by the member states in the wake of rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the EU in 2011 on the reception conditions for asylum seekers in Greece.
The European Commission put a first recommendation to Greece on 10 February on urgent measures to be taken to prepare for possible resumption of the transfer of asylum seekers from other member states. This initial recommendation presented a raft of measures, such as increasing reception capacity and improving living conditions for asylum seekers as well as bringing improvements to the system itself, for example, in the appeal procedures in the event of asylum requests being rejected.
In the second recommendation, the Commission notes that progress has been made since February, with increases in “the overall reception capacity as well as the capacity of the asylum service”, a press release states. Greece has also put in place a framework for free legal aid and new appeal authorities.
The recommendation states that Greece has significantly increased its overall reception capacity for both irregular migrants and applicants for international protection and “has progressed on the establishment of Regional Asylum Offices as well as the recruitment of more staff for the Asylum Service to increase its processing capacity”. This Asylum Service now has twice the human resources available in 2015.
Prior to its full return to the Dublin system, Greece must focus as a matter of priority on establishing appropriate permanent and temporary open reception facilities and ensuring that all these facilities offer adequate reception conditions, including by ensuring minors have access to education, the Commission states.
Greece must also allow effective access to the asylum procedure, including by ensuring that its asylum service is “adequately staffed and organised”. It must also institute the new appeals authority without delay and ensure that it is adequately staffed, make sure that access to free legal aid is effective in practice and establish structures for vulnerable applicants, including unaccompanied minors.
The country will have to report back on its progress by the end of June and then on a monthly basis thereafter. The Commission will bring forward a report in September. It wants to have Greece back in the Dublin system and transfers to resume by the end of December this year.
At a press conference, European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said, too, that for this to be a realistic goal the other member states would have to help Greece and comply with their relocation obligations: “We cannot expect Greece to have a system that works and transfers to resume”, when there are over 40,000 refugees on Greek soil. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)