Coping with a fundamental rights emergency – The situation of people crossing the Greek border in an irregular manner
such as Afghanistan, Somalia or Iraq: Figure 4 shows that in 2010, over 28,000 Afghans, 7,500
Palestinians, 6,500 Somalis and nearly 5,000 Iraqis were apprehended after having entered
Greece in an irregular manner, many of whom at the border in Evros. Some try to lodge an
asylum application after their release from detention and arrival in Athens, which creates
additional resource problems to the Aliens Directorate in Athens.
Figure 5: Number of apprehensions in Greece, by nationality, 2010
Georgia; 1,456
Iran; 1,133
Eritrea; 1,628
Morocco; 1,645
Others; 9,704
Bangladesh; 3,264
Iraq; 4,968
Albania; 50,175
Somalia; 6,525
Algeria; 7,336
Palestine; 7,561
Pakistan; 8,830
Afghanistan;
28,299
Source: Hellenic Ministry of Citizen Protection, 2010
The nationality screening carried out by joint FRONTEX and Hellenic police teams has decreased
the number of migrants registered under the wrong nationality. Since the deployment of
screeners by FRONTEX under the Attica30 project the number of persons registered, for example,
as Palestinians decreased substantially, as many of them were identified as coming from North
African countries.
The FRA is of the view that a proper identification of nationality is helpful, both for subsequent
asylum procedures as well as return procedures, including avoiding the deprivation of liberty of
individuals when there are no tangible prospects for removal.31 However, given its implications
for the further treatment of a migrant, the evidence used to determine the nationality should be
recorded, so as to allow the person to rebut it, when challenging the detention or deportation
decision. The FRA welcomes that a standardised form has been introduced to document this
30 See
http://www.frontex.europa.eu/download/Z2Z4L2Zyb250ZXgvZW4vZGVmYXVsdF9tdWx0aWxpc3RhX3BsaWtvdy8xMzY/operatio
nal_activity_in_greece.doc.
31 See Return Directive Art. 15 (4) – 15 (6). Art. 15 (4) provides that “When it appears that a reasonable prospect of removal no
longer exists for legal or other considerations or the conditions laid down in paragraph 1 no longer exist, detention ceases to be
justified and the person concerned shall be released immediately.” In the Grand Chamber case Saïd Shamilovich Kadzoev v.
Direktsia ‘Migratsia’ pri Ministerstvo na vatreshnite raboti of 30 November 2009, the CJEU clarified that the concept of
‘reasonable prospect of removal’ “must be interpreted as meaning that only a real prospect that removal can be carried out
successfully, having regard to the periods laid down in Article 15 (5) and (6), corresponds to a reasonable prospect of removal,
and that that reasonable prospect does not exist where it appears unlikely that the person concerned will be admitted to a third
country, having regard to those periods,” (para. 72 (5)).
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