As a result of the implementation of the EU-Turkey “deal” and successive legislative reforms to dismantle procedural safeguards and speed up returns of asylum-seekers to Turkey, an increasing number of individuals in need of international protection face an increasing risk of deportation. Among the detrimental reforms introduced in the past year are provisions restricting access to the appeal procedure.
RSA continues to offer legal support to asylum-seekers to challenge negative asylum decisions and deportation orders before national authorities and courts in all instances. It also represents asylum-seekers whose claim has been rejected on that basis before the European Court of Human Rights and other international Bodies.
RSA conducts legal analysis and advocacy on functioning and quality asylum procedures before national and international fora. Both individually and in collaboration with other civil society organisations, it actively contributes with analysis and recommendations to improving legislative reforms.
The State of the Rule of Law in Greece today
Greek Asylum Case Law Report Issue 2/2024 released
Even asylum interviews are no longer being conducted
What is the Common European Asylum System (CEAS)?
CJEU’s judgment of major importance
The reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS)
The new issue of the Greek Asylum Case Law Report released today provides excerpts from 57 decisions, mainly issued in the first half of 2024.
Clear need of international protection for most asylum seekers in Greece
The “safe third country” concept is under scrutiny by the CJEU, PRO ASYL and RSA are calling for an end to the EU-Turkey deal
On Thursday 14/32024, hearing before the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, regarding Turkey as a “safe third country”
The main European legislative and jurisprudential standards underlying the safe third country concept and their implementation in the Greek asylum system
The new issue of the Greek Asylum Case Law Report released today provides excerpts from 70 decisions
The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is at dire risk of dismantlement in view of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.
The major protection risks attached to the reform. Webinar organised by the Border Violence Monitoring Network
The Greek discourse and the consequences expected from the reform of the “Common European Asylum System” (CEAS)
A glance at compliance with the landmark 2011 European Court of Human Rights judgment
Reject the Use of Legal Loopholes in EU Asylum Law Reforms
The new issue provides excerpts from 99 decisions
The Council of the European Union sets impermissible restrictions on refugees’ access to asylum procedures in Europe.
The upgrade of the database maintained by the Asylum Service “Alkyoni”, has “frozen” the asylum procedures since early May.
Analysis of main trends in refugee protection
Greece encampment policy and services takeover lead to isolation and deny protection
Observations on access to the asylum procedure in the Attica region
An unofficial translation of relevant excerpts of the decision
Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) and HIAS Greece Joint Submission
The new issue of the Greek Asylum Case Law Report released today provides excerpts from 120 decisions
Report prepared by Equal Rights Beyond Borders, HIAS Greece & Refugee Support Aegean
The undersigned NGOs strongly oppose the introduction and use of the concept of instrumentalisation and its codification in EU law;
High recognition rates, rise in subsequent applications due to generalised “safe third country” policy.
The new issue of the Greek Asylum Case Law Report released today provides excerpts from 79 decisions issued in the first half of 2022 by Administrative Courts, the Independent Appeals Committees and the Asylum Service.
six Greek civil society organisations, members of the Informal Forced Returns Recording Mechanism established by the Greek National Commission for Human Rights in response to systematic push back allegations in the country, submitted a briefing to the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), covering systemic breaches of the rule of law and the EU acquis by Greek authorities.
This note analyses current detention practice based on the latest available statistics on immigration detention and judicial review thereof, as well as on testimonies from refugees detained in Greece.
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.
The organisations highlight the need to ensure that asylum seekers to whom the safe third country concept has been applied have their applications promptly examined on the merits and are provided with respective legal status and adequate reception conditions, as well as to safeguard the integrity of the Common European Asylum System against systematic non-compliance.
In its submission to the 2022 Rule of Law Report of the European Commission, RSA highlights developments and persisting concerns relating to the rule of law through the lens of the Greek asylum system.
The first issue of the Greek Asylum Case Law Report published today is a joint initiative of the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), HIAS Greece and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), organisations providing legal support and representation to refugees and asylum seekers in Greece. The note compiles extracts of decisions of Administrative Courts, the Independent Appeals Committees and the Asylum Service in the area international protection selected from the casework of the above organisations.
Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) filed judicial review applications before the Greek Council of State for the annulment of the Joint Ministerial Decision of the Minister of Migration and Asylum and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of 7 June 2021. The Decision designated Turkey as a safe third country for nationals of Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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.
The Deportations and Returns Bill tabled by the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum to Parliament on 25 August 2021 fully disregards the positions and concerns put forward by civil society and the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) regarding compliance with international and EU law on asylum and migration. Without any justification, the drafters of the bill omit over 60 comments tabled by experts in the public consultation, thereby circumventing a necessary institution to safeguard the rule of law and better law-making.
Online press conference
This paper summarises comments from legal organisations Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), HIAS Greece and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) on the bill amending migration and asylum legislation,[1] submitted to public consultation by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum one year after the last migration reform. The organisations offer a detailed analysis of key provisions of the bill and of their impact on refugees and asylum seekers, as well as recommendations to achieve the necessary harmonisation of Greek legislation with EU law.
PRO ASYL and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) warn that the right to asylum and the 1951 Refuge Convention are being largely suspended in Greece – with the active support of the European Union.
Three asylum seekers represented by Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) have lodged complaints with the European Commission relating to infringement of EU law stemming from Greece’s failure to correctly transpose and implement the Asylum Procedures Directive (2013/32/EU) and the Reception Conditions Directive (2013/33/EU).
RSA publishes the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) “Turkey: Content of Protection – Country Information Pack”, last updated in August 2019.
our organisations stress that “externalization simply shifts asylum responsibilities elsewhere and evades international obligations”. We once again call on the Greek and European authorities to honour their responsibility to protect refugees and to avoid further undermining the European asylum acquis and the fundamental principles and values for protecting human rights. To this end, we call on Greece to revoke the JMD issued on 7 June.
Download the Note In September 2020, as part of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the European Commission tabled…
This Legal Note provides up-to-date information on the situation of beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, including readmitted status holders from other European countries, drawing on a third party intervention submitted on 24 February 2021 by Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) and Stiftung PRO ASYL in the case of Alaa Asaad v. the Netherlands before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Three illustrative stories of refugees who experienced the tragic consequences of the implementation of the “deal” at any cost remind us that human rights are trampled every day in the Reception and Identification Centres of the Aegean islands.
Download theLegal Note From its very inception in early March 2016, the EU-Turkey deal signed on 18 March 2016 was…
The highest administrate Greek court, the Council of State confirmed in a judgment published on 22 September, the decisions of…