50 THE DUBLIN II TRAP TRANSFERS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS TO GREECE 28 Article 3(1) of the Dublin Regulation: “Member States shall examine the application of any third country national who applies at the border or in their territory to any one of them for asylum. The application shall be examined by a single Member State, which shall be the one which the criteria set out in Chapter III indicate is responsible.” 29 PD 90/2008. 30 Complaint of 10 November 2009, www.ecre.org/resources/Press_releases/1475 31 A national advisory human rights body. 32 Parliamentary Questions, answer given by Mr Barrot on behalf of the European Commission, 10 December 2009, E-5426/2009, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2009-5426&language=EN. 33 On 13 and 14 July 2009, Greek and Dutch experts met in Athens to promote practical cooperation in the field of migration and asylum. This meeting was a follow-up of the visit by the Netherlands State Secretary for Justice, responsible for migration, Nebahat Albayrak, to Greece in May 2009. The meeting was jointly chaired by the Secretary General of Public Order of Greece, Constantinos Bitsios, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kees van Rij. During the expert meeting, best practice was shared and proposals were made for joint initiatives to be undertaken. In particular, cooperation will focus on further improving the identification process in relation to the asylum procedure and measures to improve border control. Cooperation between Greece and the Netherlands within Frontex and GDISC was also agreed. Further meetings to implement this cooperation were planned to take place in the following months. Press release contained in document 23490, No. 579 of the Dutch House of Representatives, 6 November 2009. 34 UNHCR Greece, Statistics based on information from the Ministry of Interior. 35 Included in these are access to an asylum procedure, an individualized examination and in-person interview by a qualified decisionmaker in an independent and specialized decision-making body, provision of and access to up-to-date and objective country of origin information, access to interpretation and legal counsel, confidentiality, reasonable time to prepare a case, equality in access to evidence, a reasoned written decision, and the right to effective appeal and remedy. 36 See Article 5 of the ECHR and relevant jurisprudence concerning its interpretation. See also Amnesty International, Migration-related Detention: A research guide on human rights on standards relevant to the detention of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, November 2007, AI Index POL 33/005/2007. 37 Amnesty International, Irregular Migrants and Asylum-seekers: Alternatives to immigration detention, 1 April 2009, AI Index: POL 33/001/2009; Amnesty International, Migration-related Detention: A research guide on human rights on standards relevant to the detention of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, November 2007 (POL 33/005/2007). 38 Application No. 53541/07, Judgment of 11 June 2009; Application No. 8256/07, Judgment of 26 November 2009. 39 See also the report Out of the Back Door: The Dublin II Regulation and illegal deportations from Greece, by Norwegian Organisation for Asylum Seekers (NOAS), Norwegian Helsinki Committee and AITIMA, October 2009. 40 One of the asylum-seekers interviewed alleged that he had been detained at Athens Airport for approximately two weeks. 41. The pink card is a document issued by the Greek police which certifies that an individual has submitted an asylum application. It serves as the only personal document recognized by the Greek authorities for asylum-seekers awaiting a final decision on their application. 42 See below under Section 4.2. of this report 43 UNHCR, Observations on Greece as a country of asylum, December 2009 44 UNHCR, Position on the Return of Asylum-Seekers to Greece under the “Dublin Regulation”, 15 April 2008. 45 Greece: Out of the Spotlight: The rights of foreigners and minorities are still a grey area (EUR 25/016/2005). The report also highlighted the failure of investigations to bring the perpetrators of violations to justice. 46 Human Rights Watch, Stuck in a Revolving Door, November 2008; CPT, Report on the visit to Greece published on 30 June 2009, www.cpt.coe.int/documents/grc/2009-20-inf-eng.htm; NOAS, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Greek Helsinki Monitor, A Gamble with the Right to Asylum in Europe: Greek asylum policy and the Dublin II, 9 April 2008, http://www.noas.org/file.php?id=53 Amnesty International March 2010 Index: EUR 25/001/2010