Even asylum interviews are no longer being conducted
Severe deficiencies in interpretation services over recent months have affected both refugee camps in Greece and the Greek Asylum Service. These gaps now hinder the state’s ability to provide essential services.

On Friday, November 1, 2024, the Single-Member Misdemeanor Court of Mytilene issued a verdict on the events of March 1, 2020, at the port of Thermi on the island of Lesvos, concerning the attack on German photojournalist Michael Trammer and the racially motivated acts of violence against newly arrived refugees.

On Friday 4 October 2024 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in line with the Advocate’s General Opinion, ruled that Member States cannot issue a decision rejecting an asylum application as inadmissible on the basis of the concept of a “safe third country” in cases where they have established that the asylum seeker will not be allowed to enter the territory of a country designated as safe.

Asylum seekers in Greece have once again been denied their legal right to dignified living conditions after months of delay in payments of cash assistance, leaving people without an income and unable to meet their basic needs. Beneficiaries of the cash assistance program have been informed via text message that delays are occurring. However, there has been no public announcement from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum regarding the cause of the delays or how long they will last, leaving people in the dark about when to expect payments to resume.

Refugee Support Aegean | 11 July 2024

New Pact on Immigration and Asylum: Unacceptable regression in the protection of asylum seekers

The recent adoption of the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) in May 2024 marked the deconstruction of EU rules and the annulment of basic security guarantees for the protection of refugees, as well as the establishment of wide-ranging derogation regimes and violations of the rule of law.