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.
- All
- Asylum seekers
- Quality of the asylum procedure
- Recognised refugees
A step backwards for protection and integration
The Greek Asylum Service must urgently resolve technical problems
Refugees receiving protection in Greece and those returned thereto from other European countries continue to face prolonged delays in the renewal of their residence permits.
Nearly 100 recognised refugees have been deported to Greece in the first half of 2022
Refugee women remain undocumented four months after return from Sweden to Greece
Mini documentary, briefing, stories of four families of recognised refugees in Greece and photos about The Cartoneros of Athens
The updated report on the situation of beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, published today by RSA and Stiftung PRO ASYL, highlights chronic legal and practical barriers excluding them from the basic documents and socio-economic rights needed to rebuild their lives.
Farhad*, a 31-year-old recognised refugee, was returned from Germany to Greece at the beginning of July 2021 after spending more than five years in Germany waiting for his asylum claim to be processed.
Despite constant appeals from humanitarian organisations and dozens of media reports regarding the economic impasse faced by thousands of refugees and asylum seekers in Greece in recent months, the problem has not been solved.
WE ARE DEEPLY THANKFUL – Update on the collection of computers for refugee children
We are collecting old laptops, of the past 8 years, and to distribute them to refugee children, thus enabling them to attend educational classes remotely
Excluded and Segregated The vanishing education of refugee children in Greece Excluded and Segregated The vanishing education of refugee children…
In a report titled “Excluded and Segregated. The vanishing education of refugee children in Greece”, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) tracks…
The Ministry failed to pay due regard to vulnerable categories of children that will be affected by the provisions such as asylum seekers and refugees
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).
Four experts present the impact of confinement on the mental health, rights and life of the “children of the deal”.
Athens, 21 January 2020 Dear Minister, With this letter, the below signatory humanitarian, human rights and protection organizations would like…
PROTECTION FOR RECOGNIZED REFUGEES IN GREECE REMAINS IN PAPER In June 2017, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA)/ PRO ASYL published a…
Despite the Government announcements that it will ensure access to education for all refugee children living in Greece, the majority…
By the Legal Aid Actors Task Force, January 2018 The following observations are drawn from the experience of 14 organisations assisting…
Photo: RSA/giorgos moutafis The current living conditions of beneficiaries of international protection in Greece are alarming, as beneficiaries do not only…
