Court stops deportations to Greece: "Danger of inhuman treatment"

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The Greek Camp Moria: Since the camp burned down, many refugees have been living in even worse conditions

Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis / DPA

Anyone who is already recognized as a refugee in an EU country must also apply for asylum there - this rule previously applied to those seeking protection who wanted to move from EU border countries to other countries.

But now the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court (OVG) has stopped deportations to Greece.

The reason: there is "the serious risk of inhuman and degrading treatment" there.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had previously rejected the asylum applications of an Eritrean (41) and Palestinian from Syria (22) because the plaintiffs had already received international protection status in Greece, but had nevertheless moved on to Germany.

Now they should be deported back to Greece.

In contrast to the courts from Arnsberg and Düsseldorf in the lower instance, however, the OVG sees a serious risk of inhuman and degrading treatment when returning to Greece.

They could not be accommodated in the reception facilities for a longer period of time, would have no chance of living or working and could not satisfy even the most basic needs such as bed, bread and soap, the communication said.

A high number of recognized persons in need of protection in Greece is already homeless.

According to the OVG, which has not allowed a revision, the corona pandemic has a significant impact on tourism and the country's economic situation.

However, an appeal to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig is possible.

In view of the dramatic situation in Greek refugee camps, human rights organizations such as Pro Asyl have been calling for years to stop deportations to Greece and to accept more recognized refugees in Germany.

The organization recently described living conditions for those seeking protection and recognized refugees in Greece as "inhumane" and "unreasonable".

Gerd Müller: Solution neither in the camps nor in Germany

According to Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU), "terrible conditions" prevailed at the end of December in the temporary Kara Tepe camp, which was built to replace the Moria refugee camp that had burned down.

The minister spoke of "babies in wet tents" being "bitten by rats".

Müller did not see the solution "in the camps or here in Germany, but on site in the developing countries."

The Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt then demanded at the beginning of January that more refugees from Greek islands be accepted than the 1550 promised in autumn.

To watch children being bitten by rats in camps on Greek islands is for them "beyond all European values".

Criticism from the Union

The CDU interior expert Mathias Middelberg criticized the judgment of the OVG.

Middelberg told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that Greece was an "established EU member state".

"Against this background, it is difficult to understand that a return there would threaten inhuman treatment," said Middelberg.

If "the Dublin system is undermined in this way, this calls the entire common European asylum system into question," said Middelberg, who is the domestic political spokesman for the CDU / CSU parliamentary group.

The largest Greek refugee camp, Moria, on Lesbos, burned down completely in September.

More than twelve thousand people were left homeless.

More than 17,000 people lived in refugee camps on Greek islands at the end of December.

Icon: The mirror

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