On Thursday 8 December, the European Commission recommended that the transfer of asylum seekers to Greece from other member states under the Dublin Regulation (this regulation stipulates that the first country of entry in the EU and first country to register the migrant is also responsible for the request for asylum) can resume as from March 2017 but subject to certain conditions and in a phased manner.
Dimitris Avramopoulos highlighted the efforts made by Greek authorities to improve their system and the way in which they are taking charge of migrants (the Commission has dropped an infringement procedure on digital fingerprinting for migrants, which Greece has a 100% success record in maintaining). Commissioner Avramopoulos proposed that these transfers to Greece would only be done for certain asylum seekers and not for unaccompanied minors or asylum seekers considered vulnerable.
In order for these transfers, which had been suspended since the 2011 rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the EU to resume, Greece will also need to satisfy the same conditions in March.
The European Commission considers that this return of Greece to the Dublin system could also, at the same, time boost the asylum seeker relocation mechanism that is in fact planned to provide relief to Greece by sending asylum seekers to other member states. Relocated individuals can therefore be sent to Greece, which Commissioner Avramopoulos said would make the relocation system more efficient.
The Commission explained that it is recommending, “The gradual resumption of transfers to Greece based on the level of assurances received on a case-by-case basis by the Greek authorities, according to which each individual transferred will be received with due dignity”.
“In order to avoid insurmountable charges being suffered by Greece, the resumption of transfers will not be retroactive and will only involve asylum seekers that entered Greece in irregular conditions as from 15 March 2017 or those for whom Greece will be responsible as from this date in application of other criteria in the Dublin system”.
In order to support the efforts made by Greece, the Commissioner explained that the Commission would be, “inviting all member states to fully comply with their obligations on relocation and ensure the deployment of a sufficient number of asylum experts in Greece” as well as in Italy.
In an effort to support the NGOs, Amnesty International, has described the approach as “hypocritical” and pointed out in a press release that the conditions of the refugees in Greece was still difficult, particularly on the islands.
This recommendation by the Commission can be seen as a response to Germany, which, earlier this year, through the voice of its Minister for the Interior, Thomas de Maizière, expressed a wish for these transfers to resume in 2017.
It should be pointed out that Greece (as well as Belgium, in the case of the condemnation made by the European Court of Human Rights) was also condemned in 2011 for degrading treatment of asylum seekers sent to the country under the Dublin system. The other member states then decided to de facto suspend these transfers and give Greece the time to return to the Dublin system. The on-going reform of the Dublin system still includes these transfers. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)