Worrisome Developments at Europe’s Outer Borders. Report Nr. 4 #ZugangZumRecht
Besorgniserregende Entwicklungen an den EU-Außengrenzen
Die Umsetzung des EU-Türkei-Deals bedeutet für die Geflüchteten auf der griechischen Insel Samos eine massive Einschränkung ihres effektiven Zugangs zum Recht. Die ohnehin komplexen Verfahren wurden noch einmal verkompliziert. Umso wichtiger ist eine unabhängige Verfahrensberatung. Neuankommende werden jedoch auf den der Türkei vorgelagerten Inseln festgehalten, auf denen eine europa- und menschenrechtskonforme Unterstützungsstruktur kaum gewährleistet werden kann – und von den Behörden aktiv verhindert wird.
Dies macht der folgende Report unserer Mitgliedsorganisation aus Berlin deutlich: Since February 2018, the Refugee Law Clinic Berlin is running a legal aid project on the Greek island of Samos. With the implementation of the EU-Turkey Deal, access to justice for refugees has become especially problematic at the European border to Turkey.
The deal has made the already complex asylum procedure even more complicated: In a preliminary admissibility procedure, refugees now have to show that Turkey is not a safe third country for them. Only after successfully doing so can they bring their substantive asylum claim regarding the situation in their country of origin. As interviews on Turkey and on asylum claims are inconsistently conducted either in separate or merged sessions, the procedure becomes very confusing to interviewees. Not aware which country to focus on in their interviews, refugees often leave out relevant information on Turkey. This leads to their asylum claims being dismissed as inadmissible – with no European agency ever examining them on their merits.
At the same time, refugees are geographically restricted to the island. The islands, however, do not provide sufficient infrastructure to support refugees during their asylum procedure. On Samos there is only a hand full of migration lawyers, who are already overworked by filing appeals for many of the currently 3,800 refugees on the island. No other independent organization continuously offered individual legal counselling on Samos. While Greek authorities give a short presentation on the asylum procedure, refugees recount that for questions they are referred to an info booth in the camp – no more than a container with a window through which questions can be asked. Due to long queues, privacy concerns and doubts about the independence of these legal information facilities, they are inadequate in every way imaginable. Hence, most refugees went into interviews without the opportunity to adequately prepare themselves for the proceedings.
Finally, living conditions in the hopelessly overcrowded camp – designed for about 700 people – are such that an adequate preparation appears challenging in any case. Refugees report having to live between rats and being afraid of TBC infections in the camp. RLC Counsellor Alice Gardoll describes the picture from outside the camp as follows:
“Tents have now spilled out into the olive grove surrounding the camp, and in this cramped environment health and safety conditions are deteriorating. In the heat of summer, Samos has become an even more difficult place for refugees to live.”
RLC counsellors can address some of these issues. They offer legal information workshops and most importantly individual counselling, where refugees have the chance to understand the asylum procedure in sufficient depth and with regard to their individual history. However, this work is time consuming and although counsellors work tirelessly to cover around 100 cases per month, this number fades in comparison to the currently 3,800 refugees on Samos.
The counsellors’ effort is made even more difficult due to the ongoing violation of the refugees’ right to have a counsellor present during the interviews (Art. 44.6 Law No. 4375). Access to the camp has – without cause or explanation – now officially been revoked for the RLC Berlin by the Reception and Identification Service (RIS) and the Greek Asylum Service (GAS) refused to let RLC counsellors accompany their clients, unless they provide a lawyers ID. Neither decision finds any basis in law.
In conclusion, Andreas Eibelshäuser, member of the coordinating team in Berlin, states:
“The implementation of hotspots at the European borders exemplifies the now increasingly common practice of isolating refugees in places where no sufficient support system can be provided. When Europe dispenses with the access to justice for only one group of people, it is gradually chipping away at one of its founding principles: the rule of law. This should worry not only those presently concerned, but every true European.”
A good report. I’d like to make some suggestions if I may?
Point 1.
„The deal has made the already complex asylum procedure even more complicated: In a preliminary admissibility procedure, refugees now have to show that Turkey is not a safe third country for them. Only after successfully doing so can they bring their substantive asylum claim regarding the situation in their country of origin. As interviews on Turkey and on asylum claims are inconsistently conducted either in separate or merged sessions, the procedure becomes very confusing to interviewees. Not aware which country to focus on in their interviews, refugees often leave out relevant information on Turkey. This leads to their asylum claims being dismissed as inadmissible – with no European agency ever examining them on their merits.“
This is nothing new. We know this already. We evidenced it in our research last year which was made available to RLC Chios last July.
See the research here: https://www.refucomm.com/infopacks/volunteer/information-provision-chios.pdf
This research was conducted to not only evidence that information was not provided by the authorities, with catastrohpic consequences for the asylum seekers as you have outlined in this article, but also to ask the asylum seekers what informaiton they neded and what was their preferred format (documents/film for example).
As a result of asaking the asylum seekers themselves we then produced four simple, easy to understand animations that explained the procedures from arrival to the appeal stage.
We sent these films to RLC Chios this April and asked if they would share them with refugees, they refused.
We sent the films to RLC Samos via Berlin and were told that the team liked them and would share them with refugees.
There is absolutely no reason why asylum seekers should still be attending interviews and not understanding the procedures. They will undertstand the procedures if they watch the films and it is essential for all volunteers who claim to give legal advice and informaiton that they show their clients the films share the films with their clients at the earliest opportunity so that the asylum seekers have a rudimentary understanding and can help themselves with assistance from volunteer lawyers.
Thew films are excellent. It would be to your client’s advantage if you watched them and shared them, to empower the people you work with so that they don’t have to rely on you for everything.
The films were made and have been tested with asylum seekers on the Islands so we know they are are useful. They are accessible to those who can not read and in six languages that asylum seekers speak, namely, Arabic, Farsi, French, Urdu, Kurmanji and Sorani and of course, English. These films are now on the UNHCR website and Metadrasi, who are Greek lawyers, say the following about them:
„We thank you for sending us these films and we would like to congratulate you on your project for both its concept and for its development. We found the films especially well made, with attention to detail, containing all the information necessary to those seeking asylum in Greece, delivered in a simple and comprehensive way. We are also impressed by the quality of the production.“
Anastasia Devetsi
Metadrasi
PR and Communications Department
This is what UNHCR had to say;
„I am taking the opportunity of this communication, to congratulate you on your amazing work. Your videos are the smartest way to explain with simple words and pictures the asylum procedures in Greece and, in some cases, for illiterate asylum seekers, are the only accessible online source of information. Not only that, but also the design of your webpage, its clarity and useful tips, can support many people, seeking specific information on procedures, rights and obligations.“
Eleanna Ioannidou, UNHCR
I have sent the films which explain the procedures to your CHios branch of RLC and to your Samos branch via you, Andreas , in Berlin. Chios branch has had them since April this year and you have had them since June.
As far as I can see there is no excuse for the statement that people find these procedures complicated if you are not giving them information in their own languages prior to their interviews. Information is available and accessible. We have made that our mission. Now we would like to think that lawyers, like yourselves would help us to share them with people who need them so that they don’t fail their interviews. We have made it ewasy for you and for them. All you have to do is share.
The next pooint I would like to address is from this paragraph in your article;
„RLC counsellors can address some of these issues. They offer legal information workshops and most importantly individual counselling, where refugees have the chance to understand the asylum procedure in sufficient depth and with regard to their individual history. However, this work is time consuming and although counsellors work tirelessly to cover around 100 cases per month, this number fades in comparison to the currently 3,800 refugees on Samos.“
It is easy to get information to 3800 people via films, let them to come to a level of understanding themselves before they come to you with questions they could easily answer themselves.
One way to ghet information to them is via micro SD cards, loaded with the films that you can distribute and which they can then share with each other either physically or via bluetooth.
See our micro SD card project here;
https://www.refucomm.com/projects/project/sd-cards-greece
Trip Advisor have just bought and loaded 500 for us. 300 of which are meant for Lesvos. We could make 100 available to you.
Best
Sharon Silvey.
RefuComm.
Dear Silvey,
thank you for your comment. I can only speak on behalf of RLC Berlin on Samos, since RLC Abroad is another organisation. We appreciate the work of RefuCom and I agree that the videos are very well developed and informative. Our counselors regularly use them for their workshops.
Nevertheless I would like to make one point in response to your remarks. It is, unfortunately, not the case that workshops, videos and presentations (such as UNHCR and RIS are providing) can adequately replace individual counseling. While they might provide an initial idea of the process and the legal terms, we observe in consultations that a lot more explanation (in relation to the specific case) is required. Not to mention the experience of having had to present your history once before the actual interview. Therefore, we consider it crucial that any asylum procedure allows for the space and infrastructure for individual counselling. No less would we expect for ourselves of any other legal procedure that we are confronted with. Unfortunately this is not the case on Samos. It is also not remotely the case that everyone entering the interviews has an adequate understanding of the procedure.
Let me reiterate that we have great appreciation for the work RefuCom is doing and we believe independent informative videos, presentations and workshops are a great complement to individual counseling, especially because they visualise the process. We look forward to continuing our still young cooperation on Samos.
All the best and success for your work!
Andreas