THE DUBLIN II TRAP TRANSFERS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS TO GREECE 49 15 See Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a thirdcountry national or a stateless person (Recast) (COM (2008) 820 final). “On 3 December 2008, the Commission adopted a proposal amending the Dublin II Regulation in order to enhance the system's efficiency and to ensure that the needs of applicants for international protection are comprehensively addressed under the responsibility determination procedure. Moreover, in line with the Policy Plan on Asylum, the proposal is aimed at addressing situations of particular pressure on Member States' reception capacities and asylum systems, as well as situations where there is an inadequate level of protection for applicants for international protection. Regarding the protection of asylum seekers falling under the Dublin Regulation:      the content, form and timing for providing information to applicants for international protection are specified in greater detail in the Regulation; the right to appeal against a transfer decision, together with the obligation for the competent authorities to decide whether or not its enforcement should be suspended and to allow the person concerned to remain on the territory pending such a decision, are laid down. Moreover, the right to legal assistance and/or representation and, where necessary, to linguistic assistance is clarified in order to ensure a more effective right to seek a remedy; a new provision recalling the underlying principle that a person should not be held in detention for the sole reason that he/she is seeking international protection is included. Moreover, in order to ensure that detention of asylum seekers under the Dublin procedure is not arbitrary, limited specific grounds for such detention are proposed; the right to family reunification has been extended by, inter alia, including family members who are beneficiaries of subsidiary protection and who reside in another Member State and by making compulsory the reunification of dependent relatives; the proposal finally strengthens the protection afforded to unaccompanied minors during the Dublin procedure in order to better take into consideration their interests.” 16 Press release, Ministry of Citizens’ Protection, 26 November 2009; Message of the Minister of Citizens’ Protection for Migrants’ Day on 18 December 2009, both at http://www.yptp.gr; also UNHCR, Observations on Greece as a country of asylum, December 2009. 17 Speech by the Dutch State Secretary for Justice, Nebahat Albayrak. at the Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, during the opening of a conference on recent developments in European and international asylum policy and law, 3 April 2009. http://english.justitie.nl/currenttopics/speeches/archives-2009/90406conference-on-recent-developments-in-european-and-internationalasylum-policy-and-law.aspx?cp=35&cs=1586 18 Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003. 19 Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004. 20 Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005. 21 UNHCR's Response to the European Commission's Green Paper on the Future Common European Asylum System, September 2007, http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=46e159f82&page=search, Asylum in the European Union. A Study of the Implementation of the Qualification Directive, November 2007, http://www.unhcr.org/cgibin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=473050632&page=search, Amnesty International’s response to Commission’s Green Paper on Common European asylum system, www.amnesty-eu.org, and ECRE’s Response to European Commission’s Green Paper on the future Common European Asylum System, www.ecre.org. 22 AI Index EUR 25/005/2006. See also, Amnesty International France, Respect des droits des demandeurs d’asile et réfugiés, Eléments d’analyse de la situation en Grèce, 24 July 2009. 23 UNHCR, Position on the return of asylum-seekers to Greece under the Dublin Regulation, 15 April 2008 and UNHCR, Observations on Greece as a country of asylum, December 2009. 24 Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Report Following his Visit to Greece on 8-10 December 2008, 4 February 2009, and European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), Report to the Government of Greece on the visit to Greece from 23 to 29 September 2008, 30 June 2009. 25 Pro Asyl, The situation in Greece is out of control, 13 November 2008, updated 19 February 2009. 26 Human Rights Watch, Stuck in a Revolving Door, Iraqis and Other Asylum Seekers and Migrants at the Greece/Turkey Entrance to the European Union, 26 November 2008; see also Human Rights Watch, No Refuge: Migrants in Greece, 1 November 2009. 27 Official Journal of the European Union, 24 May 2008, C 128/25.