CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCESS TO
ASYLUM, WEB: http://asylum-campaign.blogspot.gr, E-MAIL: kampaniagiatoasylo@gmail.com
OPEN LETTER TO THE ASYLUM SERVICE
Athens,
19 May
2016
The great difficulty in access to the asylum procedure
was the reason why our campaign was founded in 2012. Today, four years later,
not only hasn’t this problem been solved but it has greatly deteriorated.
Even though the Asylum Service has already started operating since
2013, it had not been organized nor staffed in a way that it could provide easy
access to the asylum procedure to all who wish to apply, as it is prescribed by
the law. We note that, even though our organizations have repeatedly
submitted to the Asylum Service suggestions aiming at resolving this problem,
there was reluctance to engage in a serious dialogue and to find effective
solutions.
Thus, in spring 2015, when we were encountered with the major influx of refugees, the Asylum Service was
still not in operational capacity to fully comply with its obligation to offer
access to asylum. The only reaction of the Service was to introduce the method of Skype, in
order to set the appointments for the registration of the asylum claims. In
fact, this is practically the only way in which refugees can have access to the asylum procedure. We
point out that this practice has been proven ineffective and besides, it
denies the right to access the asylum procedure not only to the people that are
not familiar with technology or do not have internet access but also to those
who repeatedly call (in the pre-determined insufficient hours) on skype without
being able to reach the Service. As a consequence, the practice of using skype
as the only way to get an appointment for the registration of the asylum claim
is basically depriving the persons concerned of their right to access the
asylum procedure.
Today, one year later, and after the – long expected
by all those who are familiar with the refugee issue- sealing of the northern
borders of the country, over 50.000 newly arrived refugees are now in our
country. The only legal way out for them is the asylum procedure which, among
other things, is also a prerequisite for the relocation and the family
reunification procedures, in order to be transferred to other European
countries. However,
this access is impossible for the vast majority of these people in both open
reception centers and asylum offices all over the country.
The problem has now reached alarming levels, given
that:
-the refugee population is a much-afflicted population
(because of the sufferings from the war and persecutions, the difficult journey
towards our country and also the severe deficiencies of our country regarding
their reception) which is in a state of great uncertainty.
-a great number of those people belong to particularly
vulnerable groups (40% chlidren, a great number of sick people and people with
disabilities).
-the documents of a large number of those people have
already expired and as a result they are in risk of arrest, detention and
deportation, as they are in state of legal uncertainty.
Lately, there have been some efforts from the Greek
government to address the problem. In particular the Asylum Service:
·
applies
the method of pre-registration of asylum claims and provides asylum seekers
with a specific asylum document.
·
announced
an urgent exercise of pre-registration of the asylum claims in the open
reception centres for refugees, with a time-frame of 6 months for their full registration. However, the implementation
of this plan has not started yet.
For our part, we
would like to stress the pressing need
for an immediate full registration as
well as for a fair examination of the asylum claims, in order to grant
protection status to all those who qualify for that and to facilitate the fast
transfer of asylum seekers to other European countries under the relocation and
family reunification procedures. Otherwise, we will face another huge backlog
of pending cases, which will aggravate the situation and feed social tensions.
Consequently, it
is imperative that the Asylum Service:
-be effectively
staffed with competent personnel and also equipped so that it can respond to
the current challenges
-change its
functioning so that it will serve the purpose of providing refugees with
effective protection
That said:
WE STRONGLY PROTEST AGAINST THE ONGOING VIOLATION
OF THE RIGHT OF REFUGEES TO ACCESS THE ASYLUM PROCEDURE.
WE CALL FOR THE IMMEDIATE FULL REGISTRATION AS
WELL AS THE FAIR EXAMINATION OF THE ASYLUM APPLICATIONS
THE
ORGANIZATIONS (in alphabetical order):
Greek Helsinki Monitor https://greekhelsinki.wordpress.com
Greek Forum
of Refugees http://www.refugees.gr
KSPM-Ecumenical Refugee Program http://www.ecclesia.gr/greek/koinonia/kspm.html
PRAKSIS http://www.praksis.gr
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