Human Rights Council

Twenty-third session

Agenda item 3

Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Regional study: management of the external borders of the European Union and its impact on the human rights of migrants*

Summary

05/14/2013 17:39 GMT

ATHENS, May 14, 2013 (AFP) - The European Union on Tuesday called on Greece to review its asylum policies, especially for Syrians fleeing "atrocities" in their country.

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstroem told a news conference after talks with Greek leaders that the number of people gaining asylum in Greece "continues to be very low, and I am particularly worried about this situation, especially about the Syrians.

"Every day we hear atrocities about their country," she added.

By Apostolis Fotiadis

This is the first of a two-part series on European funding enabling anti-migration operations in Greece.

ATHENS, Mar 16 2013 (IPS) - Faraj Alhamauun, a Syrian national now residing in Istanbul, was detained while crossing Greece, in the hopes of heading north, last September.

An activist who cooperated with Human Rights Watch (HRW) after the war broke out in Syria, Alhamauun was injured last summer in a bombing outside the northwestern city of Aleppo.

ATHENS / GENEVA (31 January 2013) – At the end of its 11-day visit to Greece, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted that the time has come for an improvement of conditions of detention and for the effective implementation of recent positive legislative developments, including in the area of migration and asylum.

“In most detention facilities visited by the Working Group, the conditions fall far below international human rights standards, including in terms of severe overcrowding,” stressed Vladimir Tochilovsky, member of the Working Group.

12/16/2012 14:59 GMT

ATHENS, Dec 16, 2012 (AFP) - The death toll in the sinking of a makeshift boat carrying migrants off a Greek island near the Turkish coast rose to 21 Sunday after another body was found on a beach, police said.

Six people are still missing, a press officer with the Lesbos island police told AFP.

The latest victim, a man, was found on the island's Thermi beach like all others before him.

Police continued to search for those missing on Sunday.

EEA Grants, a funding mechanism supported by European Economic Area (EEA) members Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, has signed an agreement with IOM that will provide EUR 4 million to support NGOs in Greece that run reception centres for vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers, especially unaccompanied minors.

ATHENS/LESBOS, 17 October 2012 (IRIN) - By early evening, Alexandra Park in central Athens starts to fill up with young, male migrants. They gather on benches, and some even kick a ball around, but they are not here for recreation - this is where they sleep, hoping their numbers will provide some protection from sexual predation and racist attacks.

Discriminatory Police Sweeps Violate Rights

(London) - The Greek authorities’ ongoing sweeps targeting suspected migrants based on little more than their physical appearance violate international standards, Human Rights Watch said today. Since August 4, 2012, more than 6,000 foreigners presumed to be undocumented migrants have been taken into police stations for questioning, and more than 1,500 arrested for illegal entry and residence with a view to deportation to their countries of origin.

A plan to round up and detain irregular migrants and asylum-seekers in Greece, including those suspected of carrying infectious diseases such as HIV, has been called "deeply alarming" by Amnesty International.

Those considered vulnerable to such diseases, based on their country of origin, poor living conditions, occupation as sex workers or their drug use, will be targeted.

"These deeply alarming measures specifically target the most vulnerable people based on discriminatory criteria," said Jezerca Tigani of Amnesty International.