Issue No. 13367

 

A NEW committee formed by the Pasok government is currently hammering out a long-awaited amendment to existing asylum legislation to introduce a fair application procedure. 

Greece currently has the lowest rate of refugee recognition in Europe. 

 

According to Michalis Chrysochoidis, the citizen protection minister, it is currently 0.03 percent. “We will start granting asylum at a rate that reflects the real need of the applicants,” Chrysochoidis said after meeting with members of the new committee last week.  

 

“We are radically changing the asylum system,” he added. “This means that we will give asylum to all those who deserve it. This will be a big change.”

 

 

According to the minister, the sweeping overhaul will be planned and implemented by the new committee, which is made up of legal experts, academics and representatives of non-governmental organisations, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNCHR) and the Hellenic League for Human Rights.

 

The committee will be responsible for deciding on asylum applications - a job currently assigned to the police. 

 

“Very soon we will have a new framework,” Chrysochoidis said. “I believe that we will soon all be proud to say that our country has one of the most progressive asylum laws in Europe. Greece over the past few years has been repeatedly criticised that it is not providing the necessary care and attention to international conventions of human rights.” 

 

Greece has faced a barrage of Europe-wide criticism since November 2007, when the German non-governmental organi-sation Pro Amyl published a shocking report accusing the Greek coastguard of “systematically abusing newly arrived refugees”.

 

Last year, Greece granted refugee status to 379 people out of nearly 20,000 applications reviewed.

By law, authorities must process all claims for asylum immediately. Asylum seekers should be fingerprinted and issued a so-called pink card (rose karta).

 

Holders of this card are entitled to free medical treatment and the right to employment. Authorities, by law, have three months to examine the asylum claim and render a decision. This is seldom the case.

 

 

Llegislation passed in July has severely undermined the appeals procedure, according to UNHCR. Rules adopted by the former New Democracy government forced all rejected asylum seekers to take their case to the Council of State, Greece’s highest administrative court. This requires them to hire a lawyer - something which few can afford.

 

Some 40,000 asylum applications are currently pending. 

 

The government’s move to shed the country’s harsh treatment of refugees has been hailed by local and international human rights organisations as a step in the right direction. The groups have repeatedly criticised Greece for ordering the deportation of thousands of Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans and others fleeing persecution in their homeland. 

 

The UNHCR said in a release that it welcomed the government’s decision to proceed with reforming the asylum system. “As regards the minister’s statements about removing the police from the asylum application procedure, this is a longstanding request by the UNHCR.”

 

 

ATHENS NEWS 30/08/2010, page: 17