For over a year now, more than one million people have put their life at risk because they simply have no choice. The policy of delay and exclusion contributes to the deterioration of the situation, causing urgent humanitarian needs and leading to profit-making practices and exploitation of these people.

In 2015, 67 million refugees and migrants who move to flee wars or famine, were recorded worldwide. Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights grants everyone the right to leave their country and seek protection in another one.
According to data from the UNHCR, in Greece more than 90% of people who have passed through our country or are currently here (52,000) are refugees that come from war-struck countries where life is threatened, while 59% are women and children – many of whom, (the number is constantly increasing), are unaccompanied or die tragically. Altogether, more than 4,000 people have lost their lives trying to exercise their legitimate right to reach the EU in 2015-16!

As a state based on justice and integrity, we must ensure their human rights based on strict adherence to international law and the Geneva Convention. In this context, closed reception and recording/detention centers cannot work, as there have not yet been any institutionalized procedures for their operation, ensuring the protection of human rights (enhancement of the asylum service, second degree for the examination of appeals, sufficient time to process requests –it is obvious that two weeks’ time is not enough – free legal support and interpretation, medical care, psychological support, housing and food, all of which aim to ensure on human dignity).

In the mainland, where people who arrived before March 20 still remain, the situation is dramatic. Refugees and migrants have been dispersed in over 30 areas. The conditions at the port of Piraeus and around Idomeni are horrible and are inappropriate for a country that wants to be called European. Under these conditions, the risk of causing panic, injuries and deaths in these areas is great, while violence and resistance is expected today as migrants are being returned to Turkey.
The Greek state constantly violates Article 25§1b of the constitution, which requires public institutions to ensure the full exercise of the individual rights of all people who are in the Greek territory, either inside structures or in open areas. In this sense, it especially violates Article 2§1 (respect and protection of human dignity) and puts into jeopardy the rights enshrined in Article 5§2 (absolute protection of life, honor and freedom). Any death or serious injury causally derived from these offenses will lead to serious criminal responsibilities/ repercussions. The criminal offense of exposure (306§1 of the Penal Code) is already taking place with potential fraud.

The EU and Greece probably do not realize that these practices simply alter the routes of traffickers and increase their profits – we have already witnessed arrivals on islands where there are no hotspots, while more and more people are using the route to Italy and soon, the passage at Kipoi towards Bulgaria and Albania will reopen.
The shortsighted policies that led to the destabilization of the Middle East, the formation of terrorist Daesh group (ISIS) and the explosion of the migration phenomenon, should be of concern and it should become rapidly understood that the current practices regarding the refugee/migration crisis are creating persecuted population in the “East and West”, that could trigger new, unforeseen situations.

With the implementation of the 20 March 2016 EU-Turkey deal, refugees and migrants in Greece are divided into two groups, who (for now) have different legal procedures. There are those who remain in the mainland -about 50,000- and those who arrived on the islands during the last two weeks -about 5,000 – and who are temporarily accommodated at the hotspots (which are being renamed “Reception and Identification Centers” but in reality, are simply temporary accommodation areas) in Lesvos, Chios, Leros, Samos.
The people for whom the neighboring country is a “safe country “, will be returned immediately. The rest can apply for asylum which should be irrevocably judged in a month. Those who are entitled to asylum can legally stay in Greece for three years and can also file a request for relocation to another Member State. They have no right to choose a specific country, but if they have family in another country, they can go there according to the family reunification law.

The solution of the problem lies in third countries such as Turkey, which has received 3 million refugees and migrants, Jordan 500,000 and Lebanon 1.5 million. Turkey must be helped, but is it a safe country? Certainly not, in the sense that populations may be returned to the countries of origin. In this way, the Geneva Convention has not been adopted fully, as geographical limitations are placed because although refugees are protected from the West (!), they are not from the Middle East and Asia.

So the refugees / migrants are not safe in Turkey, they do not have access to education and have quite limited access to employment. We do not know where the 3 billion euros of the deal will go and what organization will manage it and how it will improve the lives of the people in the accommodation centers. Generally, there has been a breakdown of freedoms in Turkey particularly against the freedom of the press and academia. Obviously, each country aims to prevent flows.

On the other hand, the fact that the revenues of the smuggling networks are estimated in the last few years to be $ 16 billion, while the cost of securing the borders amounts to 13 billion, is deterrent to limiting the phenomenon. In Greece, the government expects to spend € 4,000,000,000 without clarifying its allocation and relevant procedures. Where will we spend this money? In a country that we believe will accommodate 29 million tourists in 2016, we cannot accommodate a little over 50,000 people? Or are there other reasons behind this policy?

According to a recent survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation, 79 % of European citizens believe in a common European asylum system, while 85% of citizens believe in a fair distribution of refugees in 28 EU countries (currently only 8 countries have accepted this relocation). Greece should be an example of rational integration for everyone, and urge all countries to accept a fair share commensurate with their financial capacity and population size.

Until safe zones are created in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, this mass movement will not stop and the EU will have to absorb 1 million people on the move directly from third countries, who meet certain criteria, and not the 72,000 according to the agreement. The legalization of this movement in combination with a common European asylum will stop the trafficking networks and deaths and will give hope amidst the despair and fear. Besides, 1 million a year is less than 0.5% of the EU population.
Legal and safe channels to Europe and other countries must be created, like the effective resettlement model that Canada implements. In the last century, Greece accepted some 800,000 Greeks of Asia Minor, 500,000 Pontic Greeks and 1million originating from Albania.

Today, despite the sympathy that ordinary citizens, groups of citizens and civil society and government organizations, such as the Coast Guard, have shown, the inability and lack of organization along with the timidity of the government, has excluded us from having a wide, coordinating humanitarian role in the EU. This has resulted, once again, apart from the lost opportunity to promote the country as a major player and partner, in the loss of confidence and now we are visibly at the risk of exiting the Schengen Agreement, with all the financial consequences this entails.

In a month the agreement will practically collapse and the EU will be searching in panic for a new unreal salvation plan to delay again the new large flows, while fearing internal resistance and national elections, as Nazi and xenophobic movements gain new momentum feeding off the lack of organization, fear and the absence of a common political vision. A new “maypole of people” that are nothing more than numbers, will be created. The EU is facing a political crisis.

The number of non-Syrians recorded in Greece will increase and all of them will file applications for asylum and appeals, as applications are rejected in Turkey since only Syrians have specific asylum provisions – though lately mass deportations are taking place and Syrians are sent back to their country. It is, of course, expected that the applications of Syrians satisfy most of the standards in Greece, as they constitute the main group which conceptually is closer to the word “refugee”. The European Court of Human Rights will prohibit the return of Kurds or Iranians, for example. Traffickers will initially be under pressure but will find, eventually, new passages. So if justice prevails, few will be judged as meeting the requirements to be returned to Turkey.

Our country is now in its 6th year of an economic and socio-political crisis that has moved us back in time, with skyrocketed rates of unemployment especially among young people. Young people leave in search of opportunities overseas where, because they are white and Christian, their right (to relocate) is respected. Perhaps this the last chance for us to leave our children and the EU with the belief that with solidarity and integration in our society, there is still hope for a better life, free of racism and xenophobia, which ultimately contributes to the prospect of social and economic development. Hopefully.

Epaminondas Farmakis has been a member of civil society for the past 19 years and since 2015, has been Managing Director of the Association SolidarityNow