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Along with other NGOs, Solidaritynow has published a statement on the proposed Asylum and Migration Pact, under development at EU level. We believe the proposed Pact on Asylum and Migration is an opportunity for the EU and its Member States to change direction and develop a rational and rights-based asylum and migration policy.

Read the statement to find out how.

The Racist Violence Recording Network that SolidarityNow is a member of, is following with great interest the Golden Dawn trial, to which it has been summoned to testify on behalf of the legal team of the “Egyptian fishermen case” – one of 154 incidents that the Network recorded in 2012.

Since its establishment in 2011, the Racist Violence Recording Network has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the dramatic increase in the number of racist attacks and how they were carried out. According to the victims’ testimonies, the most common practice, especially between 2009 and 2013, was for “patrolling” of organized black-clad pedestrians or motorcyclists as self-appointed hit squads attacking refugees and migrants on the streets, squares, or at public transport stops. In several cases of particularly brutal attacks, the victims identified among the perpetrators, people associated with Golden Dawn, who were bearing its distinctive insignia. Only a few of these incidents were officially reported to the police. The victims testified to the inability or reluctance of the prosecuting authorities to conduct adequate investigations and arrests, while most of the victims who did not have legal documents, did not report to the authorities for fear of arrest and deportation.

Being a credible and consistent interlocutor of the State for recording and addressing racist crime, the Racist Violence Recording Network recalls the main finding made also during the criminal proceedings: not all recorded racist violence is related to Golden Dawn, but the activities of the hit squads during the critical period of 2009-2013 presented common characteristics, confirmed also in court rulings – indiscriminate racist violence, perpetrators outnumbering the victims, spread of organized violence and fear amongst the public and domination of such groups in the neighbourhoods. In the international literature, these characteristics are linked to the activities of neo-Nazi and extremist groups, in which the Golden Dawn “claimed” a prominent position.

In the last quarter of 2013, following the arrest of the Golden Dawn leaders and high-ranking members, the Network saw a drop in the recordings of organized violence incidents.  The significant reduction in the incidents of organized racist attacks compared to the past, apart from its positive aspect, comes in support of the Network’s evidence about the existence of hit squads with specific practices, against which, unfortunately, the Greek State was slow to take measures.

It is also recalled that the ruling in the Sakir v. Greece case affirmed retrospectively and conclusively the specific modus operandi and the lack of institutional action, already recorded by the Network during the period in question: the European Court of Human Rights had ruled against Greece, confirming a clear increase in racist violence incidents in the centre of Athens since 2009, a pattern of attacks on foreigners by extremist groups, often linked to the Golden Dawn, and ultimately a failure by the prosecuting authorities to fulfil their positive investigative obligations.

We recall that the Racist Violence Recording Network was established at the initiative of the National Commission for Human Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Greece, in the absence of a formal and effective system for recording racist violence, which had been on the rise since 2009.

These incidents are recorded by member organizations of the Network, following the victims’ in person testimony and with a very specific and rigorous methodology. Reports by European and international organizations as well as the adoption of some of the Network’s key recommendations by the State, demonstrate the credibility of its recordings and findings.

The Network emphasizes that the well-established lack of legal protection and adequate access to justice for victims in the period in question renders an even greater need for the Rule of Law to be upheld by all competent authorities.

Athens, 21 January 2020

Dear Minister,

With this letter, the below signatory humanitarian, human rights and protection organizations would like to congratulate you on taking up your new post as Minister on Migration and Asylum and wish you every success in your term. We would also like to welcome your intention to establish an EU mechanism that shares responsibility of welcoming refugees and migrants.

However, we can only express deep concern at the fact that, in recent months, the public health system remains inaccessible to thousands of asylum seekers, migrants and their children, with serious consequences to their well-being and public health. Withdrawing the right to the social security number (AMKA), thus de facto annulling newcomers’ right of access to health care, coupled with overcrowding in the islands – as a result of the geographical restriction – and prolonged inadequate living conditions in refugee camps across the mainland, have led to an unprecedented, unacceptable situation, in violation of fundamental human values, national and international law.

Moreover, the Greek Government, while announcing its priorities on migration, consistently fails to include the protection of people, the respect for their rights and the promotion of their integration. The lack of adequate and humane living conditions for asylum seekers, the difficulty in accessing a fair asylum process and the absence of long-term planning for their effective reception and integration, as well as the fragmented and ad hoc approaches, should give place to coherent and integrated solutions based on human dignity. We hope that your ministry will be able to achieve this.

Having been at the forefront of the so-called “refugee crisis”, offering assistance to the Greek State and the refugee population, the signatory organisations know that improving the asylum, reception and integration system in our country is possible. Greece can meet the needs of the asylum seekers that reach its borders seeking protection, fulfilling its legal obligations but also ending the vicious cycle it has found itself in, with a long-term strategy that takes into account both the benefits of integration of refugees and the needs of the local host communities.

On the basis of all of the above, we ask you to:

• Immediately restore access to primary health care to everyone who has arrived since July 2019 and continues to arrive, by restoring access to the social security number (AMKA), by activating the Temporary Number of Insurance and Health Care number or any other equivalent scheme.
• Review the existing legal framework (Law 4636/2019) of the asylum procedure, including by amending the provisions on the inclusion of vulnerable groups in the fast-track border procedures and in expanded use of detention, the provisions on lists of “safe third countries”, which in no way reverse the obligation of the State to examine asylum applications on their merits regardless of the country of origin or previous residence of asylum seekers. Particular emphasis should be given to the effective respect for the right to a fair examination of asylum applications, and in particular to the right of effective recourse in the spirit and letter of national, European and international law and related case law.
• Ensure adequate housing infrastructure in dignified conditions through rational use of existing European funds.
• Take immediate action to protect all unaccompanied minors, to the extent of your jurisdiction, in co-operation with the relevant ministries.
• Immediately and effectively decongest the islands by transferring people to dignified accommodation, based on the needs of each population group.
• Remove barriers to labour market and education integration so that refugees can quickly be included in and contribute to local communities.

In closing, we would like to express our willingness to work with the authorities to establish a fair and humane system of reception, protection and integration. We hope that your mandate will be the basis for a change in attitude, reversing the climate of discrimination and xenophobia that has arisen, and assisting in raising awareness of the fact that, providing refugees with access to healthcare, education and employment represents a benefit for the country, public health and national economy.

The signatory organizations:

ΑCTIONAID

ARSIS

DANISH REFUGEE COUNCIL

DIOTIMA

ELIX

GREEK COUNCIL FOR REFUGEES

GREEK LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE

HIAS GREECE

HUMANRIGHTS360

ΜΕLISSA NETWORK

MEDECINS DU MONDE (DOCTORS OF THE WORLD)

NETWORK FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

PRAKSIS

REFUGEE SUPPORT AEGEAN

SOLIDARITYNOW

TERRE DES HOMMES HELLAS

In recent weeks, the Racist Violence Recording Network (RVRN) has witnessed an increasing number of xenophobic and racist incidents, targeting the transfers of asylum seekers to reception facilities. These incidents may be committed by small groups from local communities but the wide-spread and organized nature they seem to take, as well as the involvement of officials, are of particular concern to us.

The RVRN has many times in the past emphasized the link between the rise in xenophobia and racist manifestations with both the absence of a coherent migration policy and the prolonged overcrowding on the islands and in accommodation sites (camps) on the mainland, under very precarious conditions, which hinder the smooth integration of refugees and migrants in the Greek society.

We call on the representatives of the State, the local officials but also the media, to abstain from the xenophobic rhetoric that reproduces negative stereotypes and fake news, while normalizing, or at times encouraging, extreme xenophobic reactions.

Any concerns of local communities should not be allowed to be exploited by organized racist groups. Therefore, we urge the State to secure the safe transfer and smooth adaptation of refugees into accommodation facilities and fully implement the anti-racist legislation – in view also of the process to establish the National Council against Racism and Xenophobia – thus sending a clear message that such actions are not tolerated in a country governed by the rule of law.

Finally, specific attention should be paid to inform and support local communities, and manage the problems that may arise.