A Dublin II Deportation Diary
Why did you want me back in Greece?, ask the refugees being returned due
to the Dublin II regulation from different other European countries. The
deportation diary carrying the same name evolved out of a short visit in
Athens, where activists from the newly founded infomobile project
conducted interviews with refugees affected by this European regulation.
The findings, based on interviews with the people affected, are shocking
and deeply disturbing. For although every story of flight to and within
Europe is different, if we were to summarise, there are two main
conclusions that need to be drawn.
In Greece, despite numerous announcements and communications of intent
by the relevant authorities of the PASOK government, the situation has
only worsened for refugees. There still is no support system for
refugees providing even the most basic necessities, while the impact of
the economic crisis has hit refugees the hardest: they are in an even
more precarious situation by now. Frequent police raids have made their
stay in Greece even more volatile and have increased the risk of
repeated and prolonged detention under the same inhuman conditions
documented countless times. At the same time, the Greek asylum system is
still dysfunctional and only existent by name.
The Dublin II-regulation, on the other hand, destroys all hope refugees
might have to reach their final destination and to escape the conditions
in Greece by moving on to another European country. As the regulation
stipulates that the responsibility for an asylum application lies with
the country of first entry, many refugees that manage the journey
onwards are simply deported back, without any examination of their
situation. This leads to refugees straying around Europe, searching for
protection and rest, sometimes even for years, only to find themselves
deported back to Greece. Given the current situation of refugees in
Greece, we contend that the human rights of refugees are fundamentally
violated in Greece. Under this perspective, the Dublin II-regulation is
a systematic violation of the non-refoulement principle laid down in the
Geneva Convention on Refugees and needs to be abolished at once.
We invite you to follow the kaleidoscope of stories assembled in the
report and to spread the word about it. The Dublin II-regulation is
already under intense legal scrutiny by highest national and European
courts, and it is the facts that you can read in this report that need
to be brought to the public attention all over Europe: the state of the
European asylum system in 2010 is a state of organised irresponsibility
and violation of fundamental principle of human rights and international
laws.
We invite you to read, not to freeze but to get involved: it is an
invitation to join the refugees’ struggles for freedom of movement. It
is not enough to report. Convince your government to accept more
refugees and stop sending them back here! was one of the instructions we
received at Attiki Square in the centre of Athens.
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