In recent months, there has been an increase in the number of ships arriving in Crete and Gavdos, islands which have no official infrastructure for the first reception of asylum seekers and their identification procedures.
Facts and figures
Sharp rise in detention orders, no access to remedies and legal aid in Greece
Analysis of main trends in refugee protection
Nearly 100 recognised refugees have been deported to Greece in the first half of 2022
High recognition rates, rise in subsequent applications due to generalised “safe third country” policy.
This Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) policy note analyses the main trends and developments in the Greek asylum procedure through statistics provided by national authorities in response to parliamentary questions and in monthly reports of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. It formulates observations and recommendations for filling existing gaps in the quality of data published by the administration.
Almost two months after the deadly shipwrecks in Paros, Folegandros and Antikythera, the bodies of missing refugees and migrants are still found scattered all over the Aegean. The survivors – relatives and companions of these people who were anxiously searching for clues about their fate, instead of receiving the necessary psychosocial care under decent accommodation conditions, were taken to the Pre-removal Detention Centre (PROKEKA) in Amygdaleza where they remained in administrative detention for more than a month. The recent shipwrecks have once again highlighted the huge shortcomings in the information, support and care of survivors, in the coordination for the management of shipwreck victims such as the protocol for the search and identification of the missing and dead respectively and the referral to an appropriate accommodation facility.
The dismantling of the Greek asylum system
This note summarises and analyses key statistics on the functioning of the Greek asylum procedure during the first half of 2021, based on figures provided by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum in response to parliamentary questions.
Official data demonstrate that the Greek authorities continue to systematically detain asylum seekers and irregular migrants. The figures reveal a severe violation of the duty of the state to use deprivation of liberty only as a last resort, when necessity and proportionality so require.
