„How will Greece’s new asylum law affect refugees?“

Auf TNH berichtet Nikolia Aposulou am 04.11. über mögliche Folgen der neuen Asylgesetzgebung in Griechenland. Die desaströsen Zustände auf den Inseln haben sich seit Beginn des EU-Türkei-Deals kontinuierlich verschlechtert; “It is an explosive situation,” the official, Dunja Mijatovic, the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, said after going to several camps. Da die von der neuen konservativen Regierung angekündigten administrativen Maßnahmen voraussichtlich kaum oder gar nicht funktionieren werden, werden die Flüchtlingslager wahrscheinlich dadurch entlastet, dass die Refugees letztlich auf dem Festland in informelle Lebenssituationen entlassen werden.

Die Hoffnung der griechischen Regierung, im erneuerten EU-Türkei Deal Rückschiebungen in die Türkei auch vom griechischen Festland aus möglich zuz machen, werden sich nicht erfüllen. Ob die neue grichische Rechts-Regierung in der EU bei der neuen Kommission bessere Karten hat als Syriza bei der alten, darf bezweifelt werden.

Von einer Situation wie 2015/16, als 1 Millionen Refugees durch Griechenland kamen, sind wir – trotz des Anstiegs der Ägäis-Passagen – weit entfernt. Aber die Menschen müssen und werden ihren Weg nach Norden suchen.

Nearly 44,000 asylum seekers have crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the Greek islands so far this year, compared to fewer than 32,500 in all of 2018 – an annual increase of more than 30 percent, but still far below 2015 and 2016 levels.

In response, the Greek government passed a new asylum law on Thursday, 31 October aimed at speeding up procedures and facilitating the return of more people to Turkey under the terms of the EU-Turkey deal signed in March 2016 to curb migration across the Aegean.

Greece’s right-wing New Democracy government, which took office in July, argues that faster procedures will allow refugees to integrate more smoothly into Greek society and accelerate the return to Turkey of people whose asylum claims are rejected.

But human rights organisations say the new law will result in major rights violations, making it more difficult for people to access protection, leaving thousands in limbo, and doing nothing to improve the situation for almost 100,000 refugees and migrants in Greece.

Already, tens of thousands of people are living in dismal conditions on the Greek islands, which the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, called “explosive” following a recent visit.

It’s unclear what the new legislation will do, if anything, to alleviate the humanitarian crisis on the islands, and it is likely to only make conditions worse for asylum seekers in Greece overall. Refugee advocates expect the new law to be challenged in the European Court of Human Rights.

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There are now more than 96,500 refugees and migrants in Greece, according to the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR.
The refugee issue has become a major political battlefield between the government and the far-right opposition, and nationalist and racist attitudes are rising in Greece…

The government is arguing that the majority of people arriving in Greece are economic migrants who should be deported and that Greece is no longer facing a refugee crisis. According to UNHCR, however, 85 percent of people arriving are from Afghanistan, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, or other countries experiencing violent conflict. Women and children account for 56 percent of arrivals over the past two years, with the majority of children under the age of 12. Minors travelling without their families account for two out of every 10 people who have arrived.

There are currently 34,000 asylum seekers on the Greek islands, where new arrivals are required to stay during the course of the asylum process. Under the terms of the EU-Turkey deal, asylum seekers can only be considered for readmission to Turkey from the islands. Once they are transferred to the mainland, asylum seekers who have their claims rejected have to be deported to their countries of origin, which isn’t possible in many cases.
As a result, reception facilities on the islands are dramatically over capacity and living conditions are horrendous.
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Under the new law, Greek police and army personnel can conduct asylum interviews, which were previously done only by the Greek Asylum Service or the European Asylum Support Office, known by the acronym EASO.
Rights groups are worried that police and army personnel aren’t trained and don’t have an adequate understanding of international protection law. There have also been dozens of reports of the Greek police and army pushing back asylum seekers at the country’s land and sea borders and committing other abuses.

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To open up spots for newcomers, once an asylum seeker’s application is accepted, they will have a maximum of four months to leave the refugee camp they are living in and will then have to find accommodation on their own.
Unemployment in Greece is still at 17 percent, and UNHCR, MSF, and other organisations predict that this measure will dramatically increase the number of homeless refugees, placing thousands of people in precarious situations.

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The EU-Turkey deal, the agreement underlying the situation for refugees in Greece, is set to expire at the end of 2019. A new agreement is currently being negotiated. The EU commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, visited Turkey at the beginning of October, along with the French and German interior ministers. Avramopoulos said that Turkey had reassured them that it is determined to continue implementing the EU-Turkey agreement.

“We also passed on the message that the financing of the UN and IOM (International Organisation for Migration) programmes will continue in order for Turkey to keep the four million refugees there,” Avramopoulos told the Greek parliament mid-October, adding that if tensions on the Turkish-Syrian border escalate people living their could be forced to migrate to Europe.
Meanwhile, the Greek government is pushing for some changes to the current deal.

Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis has called for asylum seekers from any country to be eligible for return to Turkey from anywhere in Greece, instead of just Syrians on the islands. “Otherwise,” Chrisochoidis said, “Moria will continue stigmatising Europe.”

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Obwohl die türkischen Behörden nach wie vor die meisten Überfahrten unterbinden, ist die Zahl der Syrer, Afghanen, Kongolesen und anderer, die bisher in diesem Jahr nach Griechenland wollten, auf über 45.000 gestiegen. Allein im September waren es nach Angaben des UN-Flüchtlingshilfswerks mehr als 12.000 Menschen, die höchste Monatsrate seit 2016. Die Meerenge zwischen der türkischen Küste und den Nordägäischen Inseln ist nur ein paar Kilometer breit. Über 16.000 Flüchtlinge seien seit Januar allein auf Lesbos gelandet, resümiert Roman Kutzowitz von Refugee Rescue.

Wer auf griechischem Territorium ankommt, wartet in einem von 27 Aufnahmelagern ein Asylverfahren ab. Fünf dieser sogenannten Hotspots liegen auf den Inseln Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros und Kos und sind seit Wochen völlig überfüllt. Den Geflüchteten ist es verboten, Festland zu betreten, bis über ihr Schicksal entschieden ist. Das heißt warten und warten, mitunter jahrelang. Mancher hat seinen Anhörungstermin erst im Jahr 2022.

Freitag 43,2019, mit einem aktuellen Bericht aus Moria