AYS Daily Digest 07/06/21 Greece designates Turkey as a “safe third country”
By: Are You Syrious
Tags: Refugees, Syria, Digest, Greece, Turkey

More about the mysterious boat that arrived in the Caribbean // deportation alerts in Germany // health concerns due to stress for Syrians in Denmark // and more…

Asylum seekers at the border of Greece and Turkey March 2020. Photo by Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera

FEATURE: Greece designates Turkey as a “safe third country” for asylum seekers from Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Somalia

The Ministry of Migration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday in a joint ministerial decision that Greece now considers Turkey as a “safe country” for asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia. They conclude that asylum seekers from these countries will not be in any danger in Turkey “due to their race, religion, citizenship, political beliefs.”

Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said the decision is an “important step in tackling illegal migration flows and criminal activities of smuggling rings… The joint ministerial decision fully complies with the International Law and shields the legal tools of Greece towards requests by asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia who objectively do not have a reason to not regard Turkey as a safe country…(this is) another step towards the full and unwavering implementation of the EU-Turkey Joint Declaration, which obliges the neighboring country not to allow the operation of smuggling networks and transit in Greece.”

Of course human rights activists are outraged by this decision. As tweeted above, Samos Volunteers points out how this decision goes directly against the Geneva convention.

Reporter Giorgos Christides gives a detailed overview of some the evaluations and remaining questions this decision leaves:

“What Athens’s decision today, designating Turkey safe for the vast majority of asylum seekers reaching Greece, means. First tentative info and expert evaluations: Decision applies, according to Der Spiegel info, to asylum seekers reaching the country from the land border as well. It is not clear yet if it also applies to pending asylum applications or to migrants who have been registered by police but have not applied for asylum yet. Asylum applications from Syrians, Afghanis, Somalians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis can now be rejected as “inadmissible”, i.e. Greek asylum authorities can reject them without getting into their merits, referring this decision to Turkey where they are supposed to be deported. Asylum seekers from these countries retain the right to contest the inadmissibility decision based on their individual circumstances. But the burden of proof that Turkey is not safe, now falls on them. A big question is: Turkey has stopped receiving rejected asylum seekers from Greece since March 2020. This means Greek asylum authorities should in fact examine such cases on their merits (since the “safe country” refuses to take them back)… Greece and the EU are pushing for returns, but at the moment it seems likely that many “inadmissible” asylum seekers will remain in a state of legal limbo. Remain where? is another good question. Some asylum experts say that here’s where the EU-funded, new reception centres to be built at the so-called hotspot islands will become useful: hosting asylum seekers pending deportation. Greece on the other hand is hoping that the lack of decent prospects to get asylum here will act as a powerful deterrent against future arrivals.”

AYS will continue to report on the ramifications of this decision.