Greece's unlawful immigrants: in dangerous hands
The European Court of Justice, in two cases brought by the UK and Ireland, has ruled that EU countries can't transfer asylum seekers to a state "where he risks being subjected to inhuman treatment".
It was a reference to Greece, the entry point for 90% of undocumented immigrants trying to get into the EU because of the country's perch on the bloc's Mediterranean coast and bordering a host of Balkan countries and Turkey, a key jumping-off point for human smuggling. They try to come across in rickety boats, canoes, cardboard boxes, packed in crates in trucks, hidden in cars and buses, any way they can think of to avoid patrols, often to no avail.
Many immigrants use Greece's northern and western borders, especially the port of Patras, which has a ship route directly to neighbouring Italy, to get into other EU countries. If caught, EU law says they must be returned to the first country they entered, which means Greece has to take them back, a risk the court said is now too dangerous.
The ruling deals with how asylum seekers were being treated and Kehayioylou said it gives a little hope for improvement.
A Human Rights Watch report found that many were being housed in overcrowded, unsanitary detention centres, and that others were being abused. In December, two police officers were sentenced to five years in prison for torturing two Afghan refugees.
Sources:
SETimes.com
The European Court of Justice, in two cases brought by the UK and Ireland, has ruled that EU countries can't transfer asylum seekers to a state "where he risks being subjected to inhuman treatment".
It was a reference to Greece, the entry point for 90% of undocumented immigrants trying to get into the EU because of the country's perch on the bloc's Mediterranean coast and bordering a host of Balkan countries and Turkey, a key jumping-off point for human smuggling. They try to come across in rickety boats, canoes, cardboard boxes, packed in crates in trucks, hidden in cars and buses, any way they can think of to avoid patrols, often to no avail.
Many immigrants use Greece's northern and western borders, especially the port of Patras, which has a ship route directly to neighbouring Italy, to get into other EU countries. If caught, EU law says they must be returned to the first country they entered, which means Greece has to take them back, a risk the court said is now too dangerous.
The ruling deals with how asylum seekers were being treated and Kehayioylou said it gives a little hope for improvement.
A Human Rights Watch report found that many were being housed in overcrowded, unsanitary detention centres, and that others were being abused. In December, two police officers were sentenced to five years in prison for torturing two Afghan refugees.
Sources:
SETimes.com
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