Coping with a fundamental rights emergency – The situation of people crossing the Greek border in an irregular manner process, which is signed by the Greek officer as well as the migrant (but not as yet by the interpreter, whose language expertise is used to assist in the determination of nationality). The determination of nationality also assists the Hellenic Police in enforcing the readmission agreement with Turkey.32 While overall, readmission to Turkey was defined as difficult, some 500 persons, mainly from countries neighbouring Turkey were accepted back in 2010. Readmitted persons also include nationals from countries such as Iran or Iraq, where protection needs are not unlikely to exist.33 Given the obstacles to access asylum procedures in the Evros region, there is a serious risk that persons returned under the readmission agreement with Turkey might indeed be in need of international protection. While the Greek authorities are responsible for the readmission process, the fact that no system exists to determine if a person proposed for readmission is in need of international protection, also puts the European Union at a grave risk: EU assistance is provided to determine nationality and hence to facilitate readmission without having a parallel assistance provided to identify whether persons to be readmitted are in need of international protection. In the short term and until the screening centres are established, the Greek authorities should establish an ex officio examination, based on a thorough interview, to establish whether an individual, whose readmission is requested from the Turkish authorities, is in need of international protection. The Greek authorities could also consider assistance by UNHCR and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) for this purpose. 32 Protocol of readmission between Greece and Turkey to combat irregular migration, adopted on 8 November 2001 and entered into force in April 2002. 33 According to information received from the Ministry of Citizen Protection, out of the 501 persons readmitted by Turkey in 2010, there were 334 Iraqi nationals, 70 Syrians, 37 Iranians and 35 Georgians. 24