According to law, after being granted international protection a refugee gains almost the same rights as a Greek citizen. However, in practise they still face significant challenges such as lack of effective national integration programme and persistent barriers and discrimination regarding access to basic social rights.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of refugees face the prospect of homelessness and destitution following the recent amendment to the controversial International Protection Act (IPA)
RSA and PRO ASYL have supported litigation challenging the returns of recognized refugees to Greece from countries such as Germany and Switzerland. In a recent third-party intervention before the European Court of Human Rights, the two organisations also analysed current practice and obstacles encountered by beneficiaries of international protection in the areas of housing, employment, social welfare and health care, including from the perspective of persons returned from other European countries.
Asylum-seekers in Greece face a series of challenges in relation to their access to, social, cultural and economic rights and face chronic obstacles to access free public health care whilst thousands of children in the hotspots also continue not having access to education.