17/7/2025–|Last update: 18:31 (Mecca time)
An organization warned Human Rights Watch From that the decision of the Greek authorities, to suspend the right to seek asylum for people coming with boats across the north Africa It is a flagrant violation of basic rights.
She said that this decision endangers the lives of safety seekers at risk, as it violates Greece’s obligations to laws European Union.
On July 11, the Greek Parliament approved an exceptional procedure for a period Libya To the Crete and Gafdos Islands, to submit asylum applications. Instead, they will immediately return to their countries of origin “without registration”, according to the official decision.
The authorities justify this measure by the high number of people arriving from Libya, although some of them are fleeing wars, especially in SudanAnd they deserve international protection.
And Greece had previously suspended asylum procedures in March 2020, which led Human Rights Watch at the time of violence, chaos, and suffering between immigrants and asylum seekers.
The organization explained that the Greek Prime Minister seeks to cooperate with the Libyan authorities to prevent the departure of migrant boats, which makes him – according to the report – is subject to accountability for the complicity of forced repetition to Libya, where the phases face horrific violations, including arbitrary detention and ill -treatment, which are violations that the United Nations described as amounting to “Crimes against humanity“.
Greece also recently published pieces of the navy off the Libyan coast to prevent migrants from reaching its territory.
Human Rights Watch noted that the European Union’s basic rights charter obliges states to respect the right of asylum, in addition to Greece’s international obligations not to return any person to a country where he faces the risk of torture or persecution (the principle of non -forced repetition).
For its part, international parties condemned this step, including the Commissioner of the Council of Europe For human rights The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Human Rights Watch has expressed concern about the position of the European Border Protection Agency (Frontex), which is actively involved in the Greek border management. The agency has previously supported the previous measures to restrict asylum, which contradicts its obligations under the European Charter of Rights.
The organization emphasized that the continued suspension of asylum is a serious test of the extent of the commitment of the European Union and the member states to the values of refugee protection and human rights on its borders.