People seeking protection end up behind bars: No access to asylum in Attica
Refugees who approach the Greek authorities to seek asylum end up arrested and criminally prosecuted. People are indiscriminately prosecuted for “illegal stay” offences in flagrant breach of basic legal standards. Instead of receiving protection from the state, they end up detained in prisons and police stations. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Migration and Asylum online platform for asylum registration appointments has been out of operation since 12 June. There is therefore no access to asylum in Attica for people seeking protection at present.
Below we highlight two illustrative cases that are in no way isolated incidents:
Marzia* is held in a prison in Attica. She is a refugee who fled Afghanistan together with her daughter and grandchildren, who are at risk under Taliban rule. The family was forcibly separated during the journey. Only Marzia* and two of her grandchildren reached Greece. Ten days ago, they applied for asylum in person at the Reception and Identification Centre (RIC) of Malakasa, run by the Reception and Identification Service (RIS), the authority responsible for identifying (“screening”) newly-arrived people and registering their asylum claims. Instead, the family was not only denied entry, but the RIS called the Police who arrested them and took them to a police station, where Marzia* was separated from her grandchildren, without knowing their fate or being able to contact them. Marzia* was brought before the court and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of €5,000 for the offence of illegal stay, without her asylum claim ever being registered
She was taken to prison, where she remains to this day.
Zahra* and her teenage daughter, Sharifa*, from Afghanistan, were held until last night in a police station, a few kilometres from Malakasa. They fled conditions of protracted domestic violence that still affect their health, while the mother also suffers from serious medical problems. When they appeared at RIC Malakasa to seek asylum two weeks ago, the Police were called, arrested them and took them to a police station. The Prosecutor initiated criminal proceedings against Zahra*, and the trial was set for ten days later. In the meantime, they were returned to Malakasa and the procedure for registering their asylum claim began, as they had explicitly expressed their wish to seek asylum. RIC Malakasa failed to comply with the statutory deadlines and, before the family's asylum claim was registered, Zahra* was again brought before the court. She was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for illegal stay under disputed circumstances and with inadequate procedural safeguards. Her sentence was suspended on condition that she return to Afghanistan immediately. She was then detained in police stations together with her daughter, only to be brought back to RIC Malakasa last night. We recall that no woman can be returned to Afghanistan, since the Taliban measures amount to persecution on grounds of gender, as confirmed by a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
These and dozens of other cases end up in arbitrary arrest, separation of children from their parents, and unjust criminalisation, conviction and imprisonment for the sole reason of seeking safety and protection in Greece. We call for:
- An immediate end to this unlawful practice.
- The reinstatement of access to the asylum procedure in Greece.
- Respect for basic legal principles:
- Asylum seekers have the right to remain on the territory from the moment they express their claim, orally or in writing, until the asylum procedure is completed. They are not in “illegal stay” and are not committing a criminal offence.
- The RIS has a duty to receive and immediately register asylum applications made with its services. It is also responsible for “screening” all undocumented people present in the country, a procedure to be carried out in RIC within the statutory deadlines.
- The Hellenic Police has a duty to receive asylum applications made before its officers and to immediately refer people arrested without documentation to the RIS for “screening”.
- Prosecution services must not initiate case files for “illegal stay” against people seeking asylum.
*Names have been changed to protect safety and privacy.
