On Tuesday 6 May, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, published a memorandum on migration and border control in Greece, following a visit to the country between 3 and 7 February.
He expressed concern about the practices of summary returns at both land and maritime borders alleged in numerous reports.
Although Greece is particularly exposed to irregular arrivals, it is still bound by international and EU law, which prohibit such practices, he stressed, calling for “zero tolerance” in this area.
The demands include: individualised procedures and means of redress for anyone subject to control operations; effective investigations into violations of migrants’ human rights; the possibility for national human rights organisations to observe how asylum seekers and migrants are treated at borders; effective implementation of the new mechanisms adopted under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.
The Commissioner reiterates the urgent need to establish responsibility for the sinking of the Adriana off the coast of Pylos in 2023 (more than 600 people missing) and stresses the importance of creating an environment in which civil society, the media and human rights defenders who protect the rights of asylum seekers and migrants are able to work freely.
Link to the memorandum: https://aeur.eu/f/goh
Link to the Greek authorities’ response: https://aeur.eu/f/goi (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)