European countries carry on with deportations of recognised refugees to Greece – returns in figures
Nearly 100 recognised refugees have been deported to Greece by other European countries in the first half of 2022, despite well-documented potent risks of destitution and degrading treatment facing people returned thereto.
Figures made available by the Hellenic Police in reply to parliamentary questions refer to 596 incoming readmission requests concerning 1,071 people, under bilateral readmission agreements with different European states:
Germany remains the main sender of readmission requests regarding recognised refugees. However, an increase is noted in requests from countries such as France, Sweden and Switzerland.
Greece has accepted the overwhelming majority of readmission requests (96%). Only 44 cases were rejected, including 31 relating to requests from Germany.
A total of 96 beneficiaries of international protection were returned to Greece in the first six months of 2022. Most of them were deported from Sweden, Finland and France.
Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) follows and supports various cases of refugees returned to Greece from Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
It is worth recalling that Germany decided in spring 2022 to refrain from returning recognised refugees to Greece and to process their claims on the merits, apart from exceptional cases. The Netherlands recently followed suit with a similar policy in September 2022. Other countries have not adopted similar policies to date, however.
For more information:
* RSA, Deported to destitution: Refugee women remain undocumented four months after return from Sweden to Greece, 5 October 2022
* RSA, The new “Cartoneros” of Athens, 14 July 2022
* RSA & PRO ASYL, Beneficiaries of international protection: Access to documents and socio-economic rights, 31 March 2022
* RSA, Recognised refugee returned to Greece, destitute, forgotten and undocumented, 4 March 2022
