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Transfers to Greece must stop

Summary

The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) seeks to transfer protection status holders to Greece as a matter of policy. A new legal opinion by Equal Rights Beyond Borders shows: this is currently unlawful.
2024 - Sticker "Every Human Has Rights" Markus Spiske
2024 - Sticker "Every Human Has Rights" Markus Spiske. Our Visual Policy

EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights are clear: transfers are prohibited where serious human rights violations threaten in the receiving country. This applies equally under the new Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which replaces the Dublin Regulation. In Greece, those violations are a real and documented threat – as the legal opinion shows.

People returned to Greece regularly end up homeless. They must leave reception facilities within 30 days – without documents, without financial support, without housing. There are only 13 homeless shelters in the entire country, most with admission requirements that are impossible to meet. Integration programmes are effectively inaccessible to returnees. Access to the labour market is severely restricted by bureaucratic barriers. Single women are particularly at risk: they have barely any access to safe shelter and face heightened exposure to violence and trafficking.

The full legal opinion is available here.

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  • Legal Opinion - Transfers to Greece must stop