Coping with a fundamental rights emergency – The situation of people crossing the Greek border in an irregular manner European Commission,3 Greece received in 2008 and 2009, in addition to the normal funding, a further €2.2 million and €4.9 million, respectively, in emergency funding under the European Refugee Fund (ERF) in order to reinforce reception capacities. In December 2010, the EU granted an additional €9.8 million ERF emergency funding to Greece to cover immediate and urgent needs related to healthcare, food and social care, improvements of accommodation centres and construction of new ones, addressing the backlog of asylum applications and facilitation of access to asylum procedures. However, with the exception of medical programmes (staff were deployed by the Ministry of Health to Evros on 28 February 2011) and a forthcoming legal aid programme by UNHCR, the FRA found no evidence that these resources are used to improve the current situation at the Evros border. In August 2010, Greece submitted to the European Commission a National Action Plan on Asylum Reform and Migration Management, which provides a basis for the identification and adoption of immediate, short‐term and long‐term measures. On 17 December 2010, the Minister of Citizens’ Protection announced in Parliament that following the presentation of the Greek Action Plan on asylum and migration the European Commission will provide substantial financial support for its implementation.4 The FRA found that authorities focus primarily on the implementation of Law 3907/2011 published on 26 January 2011. The law transposed the Return Directive5 and reformed the country’s asylum system. It provides for the creation of an Asylum Service, an Appeal Authority, a First Reception Service and screening centres for new arrivals. There is widespread hope that the new law will resolve all relevant problems. Hence, most efforts in Athens focus on the implementation of the new law and not on addressing the immediate humanitarian situation at the border. However, implementation of the new law will take considerable time; the law itself allows for a 12‐month implementation period. In the meantime, persons in administrative detention are held in inhuman conditions, which are also alarming from an EU public health perspective. Factors contributing to the current crisis The FRA identified a number of factors that contribute to the current fundamental rights crisis in Evros. These include:  Fragmentation of responsibilities for migration and lack of systematic coordination: At a national level, responsibility for border control, migration and asylum issues is fragmented among four different Ministries. Formal coordination mechanisms for migration issues set up by Law 3386/2005 have in practice not been functional. At policy level, the FRA noted 3 4 5 Statement of Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, following the judgment of the ECtHR on the transfer of asylum seekers under the EU Dublin Regulation on 21 January 2011, available at: http://europa.eu/rapid/ pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/35&type=HTML. See Joint statement by Mr Christos Papoutsis, Minister of Citizen Protection of Greece and Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner in charge of Home Affairs, available at: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleases Action.do?reference=MEMO/10/450. See also the statement by Minister Papoutsis, in which he indicated a sum of €230 million, available (in Greek) at: www.minocp.gov.gr/index.php?option=ozo_content&lang=&perform=view&id=3385&Itemid=459. Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third‐country nationals, OJ 2008 L 348. 6