„The thruth may be bitter, but it must be told“ – The Situation of Refugees in the Aegean and the Practices of the Greek Coast Guard

Oktober 2007

In the past few months PRO ASYL has beco­me incre­asing­ly con­cer­ned about reports from asyl­um see­kers who, during hea­rings in Ger­ma­ny, sta­te that whilst in Greece, they were given no oppor­tu­ni­ty to file an asyl­um cla­im in accordance with the requi­re­ments of the 1951 Refu­gee Con­ven­ti­on. Fur­ther­mo­re, the num­bers of refu­gees report­ing maltre­at­ment and attempt­ed refou­le­ment by the Greek coast guard has increased.

Bet­ween 12th July and 14th August 2007, a dele­ga­ti­on from PRO ASYL under­took a fact-fin­ding mis­si­on in order to exami­ne the cir­cum­s­tances in the area. The focus of our rese­arch was access to the Greek ter­ri­to­ry, recep­ti­on and detenti­on con­di­ti­ons of new­ly arri­ved refu­gees on the islands of Chi­os, Samos and Les­bos and the par­ti­cu­lar situa­ti­on of minors.

Edi­tor: STIFTUNG PRO ASYL