XVII. Dublin Returns The Shock of Return Iraqis who are returned to Greece per the Dublin system consistently comment on the rough, intimidating, insulting reception from Greek police from the moment they step off the plane. A 30-year-old man from Baghdad was returned from Sweden on March 5, 2008 after his fingerprints identified him as having first arrived in Greece. On arrival at the Athens airport, he alleges that Greek police beat him as soon as he got off the plane: They beat me at the door of the plane as soon as it arrived. I said to my Swedish escort, “Look what they are doing to me.” But he raised his hands to say there was nothing he could do. They took me by the collar. They pushed me. I said, “Why are you pushing me?” Then the Greek policeman kicked me in the balls and I fell down. I was still in handcuffs. The Swedish escort stood in the doorway of the plane and watched this happen. There were two other Iraqis being returned with me and four policemen who were all there watching me being beaten.312 Things improved little after his initial reception: “They took me to the airport police station, where I stayed for seven days until March 12. The conditions were not good. It was not clean. The food was not good. The bathrooms were very dirty.”313 This returnee from Sweden who had been in the asylum process in Sweden until his fingerprints were discovered, had yet to have even the most perfunctory consideration of his asylum claim in Greece at the time of the Human Rights Watch interview: “They didn’t say anything to me about asylum in the airport or at the airport police station. They didn’t ask me any questions about Iraq. When they let me go, they just gave me a red card.”314 Although he had no resources, the Greek authorities provided him no shelter or assistance upon return. To the contrary: 312 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, B-17), Athens, May 27, 2008. 313 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, B-17), Athens, May 27, 2008. Ibid. 314 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, B-17), Athens, May 27, 2008. Stuck in a Revolving Door 114