{"id":24283,"date":"2020-05-04T16:28:02","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T13:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arsis.gr\/?p=24283"},"modified":"2020-05-04T16:28:02","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T13:28:02","slug":"protect-the-most-vulnerable-to-ensure-protection-for-everyone-restore-legality-to-protect-refugees-and-the-society-at-large-amidst-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arsis.gr\/en\/protect-the-most-vulnerable-to-ensure-protection-for-everyone-restore-legality-to-protect-refugees-and-the-society-at-large-amidst-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect the most vulnerable to ensure protection for everyone! ‘Restore legality to protect refugees and the society at large amidst the pandemic’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open letter signed by <\/em><\/strong>132 Organizations<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President of Greece, Katerina Sakellaropoulou<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President of the Hellenic\nParliament, Constantine An. Tassoulas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Dunja\nMijatovi\u0107<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Athens, 25<\/strong> March <\/strong>2020 \u2013 Recalling the letter issued on 6 March 2020<\/strong>, signed by more than 250\norganizations throughout Europe<\/a>, the\nundersigned organizations reiterate the dangers stemming from <\/strong>persisting in current arrangements on the <\/strong>management of the reception of asylum\nseekers and the respect for their right to seek asylum in Greece. Apart from violating national, EU and international laws,<\/strong> amid the pandemic, these arrangements also <\/strong>pose a major public\nhealth danger, arising from\novercrowding in <\/strong>Greece\u2019s<\/strong> Reception and Identification Centers (RICs)\nand in<\/strong> the country\u2019s<\/strong>\ndetention centers<\/strong>. <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Asylum seekers<\/strong>, amongst them\nmany children,<\/strong> who entered Greece with the aim of\nseeking protection are being detained for the purposes of return<\/strong>, as a result of the Emergency Legislative Decree (E.L.D) issued on 1<\/strong> March <\/strong>2020. <\/strong>The E.L.D. has suspended the registration of asylum applications\nallowing for the immediate\ndeportation of those entering the Greek territory to their countries of origin\nor Turkey. A large number of refugees and migrants are now being held in prisons and in formal and informal detention\ncenters that keep springing up throughout Greece. This is\nhappening without ensuring minimum standards of hygiene or protection, even during\nthis public health emergency.<\/strong> They are deprived of the right to apply for\nasylum and are detained under the threat of deportation. In a breach of all international Conventions that protect\nthe right to seek asylum, Greek Courts have imposed severe penalties on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stress that the suspension of the right to seek asylum and the\nviolation of the principle of non-refoulement<\/em><\/strong> is an unprecedented abrogation of <\/strong>international\nobligations <\/strong>in post-war Europe<\/strong>. At the same time, following the Greek Asylum\nService\u2019s suspension of operations, in the context of social distancing to curb the spread of the\ncoronavirus, the backlog of asylum applications and the uncertainty of asylum\nseekers who arrived in Greece before the 1st<\/sup> of March are growing daily, as no interim\nprocedures have been defined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, the coronavirus\npandemic is threatening to affect\nrefugee accommodation sites and camps. The camps, especially on the Aegean islands, suffer from severe overcrowding and lack of adequate\nsanitary facilities, making it impossible to ensure social distancing and hygiene\nconditions for both residents and employees. This poses a major threat to\npublic health for both asylum seekers and for society as large.<\/strong> Similarly,\nthe significant increase in the number of third-country nationals placed in\nadministrative detention, in the weeks preceding and especially those following\nthe E.L.D., notwithstanding issues of legality, puts the health of detainees\nand employees alike at grave risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We address all competent Greek authorities, requesting<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n