cases included a Chaldean Christian claiming persecution at the hands of Muslim
militants and an Iraqi police officer expressing a fear of persecution because of his
cooperation with U.S. forces.257
UNHCR’s review of case files showed the consistent use of boilerplate language in the
denials. All contained the standard language: “It is obvious that s/he abandoned his
country in order to find a job and improve his living conditions.” They all also misstate
international refugee law by stating that the applicant “cannot justify that s/he suffered
or will suffer any individual persecution by the authorities of his country.”258
International refugee law, including Article 6 of the EU’s Qualification Directive, which as
of July 2008 has been transposed into Greek law, explicitly recognizes that nonstate
actors can be the agents of persecution.259
Secretariat General for Public Order provided Human Rights Watch with two sets of
interview questions for police officers to use in first-instance asylum interviews.260 The
first set of 10 questions is for the accelerated procedure for applicants presumed to have
come to Greece for economic reasons. Many of these are leading questions: “For which
reason was it not possible for you to find work in your country? Did you try to move to
another region of your country in order to work? Did you try to find work in any of the
neighbouring countries? Have you been forced to abandon your country for reasons of
quarrels/troubles with your relatives?” The questionnaire appears not to reflect the
reality that refugees can have mixed motives for leaving their countries or that private
actors, including family members, can be the agents of persecution. The 18-question
guide for police interviewers in the regular procedure includes questions that test the
applicant’s general knowledge of his alleged country of origin as well as questions that
probe the facts of a persecution claim and the possibility of an internal flight alternative.
Both questionnaires ask the applicant why he chose Greece as his destination country.
257
Ibid., p. 33, footnote 70.
258
Ibid., p. 32.
259
Presidential Decree96/2008, Article 6(c) and Council Directive 2004/83/EC of April 29, 2004 on minimal standards for the
qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need
international protection and the content of the protection granted. In R v. Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte
Bouheraoua and ex parte Kerkeb, Judgment of May 22, 2000, Case No. CO/878/1998, CO/2734/1998, the British High Court
ruled that Algerian asylum seekers who claimed a fear of persecution by nonstate agents could not be returned to Greece
under the Dublin system because Greece did not recognize nonstate actors as agents of persecution for the purposes of
establishing refugee status.
260
The questionnaires are only in Greek. Human Rights Watch translated the documents. Both the original documents and
the translations are on file with Human Rights Watch.
97
Human Rights Watch November 2008
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