A/HRC/16/52/Add.4 is very low and they receive no financial allowance.42 As a consequence, many are forced to live on the streets and have to resort to illegal activities to survive. This leads to their marginalization in Greek society, triggering attitudes of xenophobia and racism. In a recent judgment, the European Court of Human Rights has confirmed the impression of the Special Rapporteur that the difficult conditions of the asylum-seekers amount to degrading treatment, in violation of article 3 of ECHR. 4. The European asylum system 66. The Government is clearly under pressure to find an adequate solution that is in accordance with European and international standards. Greece has the right to take effective measures to manage its external borders but this must be done in a manner that respects international human rights. In that regard it should be supported by EU member States and the recently established European Asylum Support Office (EASO). All asylum-seekers must have the effective possibility to make their claim heard and effectively assessed in compliance with European and international standards.43 The Special Rapporteur urges all member States to suspend and examine all cases of Dublin II returns to Greece and immediately renegotiate Dublin II to find a fair way of burden sharing for refugee protection in the EU. 67. On 26 October 2010, six days after the Special Rapporteur issued his preliminary findings, the Government requested members of the Rapid Border Intervention Team (RABIT) deployed by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX) to control the migratory flows on the Greek-Turkish land border and assist the Greek authorities in border management. The Special Rapporteur urges the border guards of other EU member States under Frontex to respect European and international human rights standards in all their endeavours. F. Juveniles 68. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the fate of unaccompanied minors in Greece, as they are not protected properly at any stage of their stay in the country. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that unaccompanied minors are systematically held in detention, instead of being held at reception centres under the authority of the Ministry of Health designed exclusively for them. He met with unaccompanied minors in police stations, CIDs, border guard stations and migration detention centres, since, in practice, reception centres are not numerous enough and are also overcrowded. These minors have no possibility to enrol in schools and to receive a proper education. 69. In Greece, the guardianship system, which in the law guarantees a protection for minors, is dysfunctional. Juvenile and court prosecutors have the responsibility for unaccompanied minors, but in practice many minors are left without guardians. Most of the unaccompanied minors the Special Rapporteur met during the visit had not been adequately informed about the asylum procedure and their rights, and were generally ignorant about the system. 70. The Special Rapporteur witnessed unaccompanied minors being held with adults in a number of facilities, such as Omonia CID, Feres Border Guard Station as well as Fylakio 42 43 See the UNHCR Submission to ECHR, case M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece. See judgement in M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, 21 January 2011 which found a violation of articles 3 and 13 against both States because of the applicant’s detention conditions and the deficiencies in the asylum procedure in Greece. 17

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents