Press release
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New study shows how EU-Turkey deal is turning refugees into detainees
Asylum
The European Union's agreement with Turkey is failing to uphold the rights of refugees in Greece, according to a new study commissioned by the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament.
The study, produced by lawyers Yiota Masouridou and Evi Kyprioti, looks at 40 case files of Syrian asylum seekers. The findings demonstrate that the current "hotspot" procedure for processing asylum applications on the Greek islands under the EU-Turkey statement violates the applicants’ right to asylum and due process.
Greens/EFA asylum spokesperson Judith Sargentini comments:
"The EU-Turkey deal is turning refugees in Greece into detainees. By entering into this deal with Turkey, the EU has traded away vulnerable people’s right to due process and decent accommodation, making itself complicit in human rights violations in Greek and Turkish refugee camps.
“The idea of a rapid hotspot procedure, designed to be concluded in only a few days, has proven to be a disaster. The EU can and must do better in meeting the needs and rights of asylum seekers. The European Parliament has already put forward ambitious reforms to replace the current Dublin system with a system of distribution based on solidarity - EU governments need to stop wasting time and back these proposals."
“The idea of a rapid hotspot procedure, designed to be concluded in only a few days, has proven to be a disaster. The EU can and must do better in meeting the needs and rights of asylum seekers. The European Parliament has already put forward ambitious reforms to replace the current Dublin system with a system of distribution based on solidarity - EU governments need to stop wasting time and back these proposals."
