Violent deportations of asylum seekers in Greece
16.3.2021
Question for written answer E-001433/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Domènec Ruiz Devesa (S&D), Bettina Vollath (S&D), Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D), Milan Brglez (S&D), Dietmar Köster (S&D), Sylvie Guillaume (S&D), Cornelia Ernst (The Left), Giuliano Pisapia (S&D), Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D), Pierfrancesco Majorino (S&D), Tineke Strik (Verts/ALE), Malin Björk (The Left)
On 25 February 2021, the EU Observer published an article entitled ‘Afghan asylum family beaten in Greece, set adrift at sea’, reporting that three Afghan families with small children were abducted from a Greek asylum camp, robbed, beaten and illegally deported back to Turkey. It also describes the inhumane situation that asylum seekers found on arrival at the Megala Therma quarantine camp in Greece. Moreover, the asylum seekers state that their right to asylum was denied through violence and harassment, affirming: ‘We wanted to ask for asylum but they didn’t even allow us to open our mouths. We couldn’t talk, we couldn’t say anything’.
- 1.Is the Commission aware of this case and what is its intended course of action?
- 2.In the Final Report of the Frontex Management Board Working Group, the Hellenic Coast Guard asserts that no claims for asylum were brought forward in some of the analysed pushback cases. Has the Commission assessed whether the Greek authorities are purposely creating conditions that inhibit people from asking for asylum?
- 3.Is the Commission planning to open an infringement procedure against the Greek authorities, given their systemic violation of EU and international law?