THE DUBLIN II TRAP TRANSFERS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS TO GREECE 35 6. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS TRANSFERRED TO GREECE RECEPTION CONDITIONS DIRECTIVE Article 13 2. Member States shall make provisions on material reception conditions to ensure a standard of living adequate for the health of applicants and capable of ensuring their subsistence. The police officers asked me in Greek to “go out” of the airport detention facility. I had no money at all and other passengers gave me a ticket for the bus to Athens. I lived on the streets for several months. M, Iraqi asylum-seeker I slept in the parks in Greece while my parents had everything in the Netherlands. A.M., Armenian refugee, returned from the Netherlands I cannot sleep in Omonoia Square at night, I feel tired of this living. J., Somali asylum-seeker, returned from the UK My future is in the park. I walk in circles in the park all day long. In Sweden they told me that the situation for me in Greece would be the same as it was in Sweden. How can I go to school? My back hurts because I sleep in the park… A., Afghan minor returned from Sweden In 2003 the EU adopted minimum standards on the reception of asylum-seekers. The EU considers “it is necessary that applicants for asylum be ensured a dignified standard of living in all the European Union as applicants do not have the right to choose the Member State that will examine their application (due to the application of the Dublin Regulation).”123 PD 220/2007 has transposed the Reception Conditions Directive124 into the Greek legal system which, for registered asylum-seekers in Greece, recognizes a number of rights to, for example, adequate material conditions in reception centres, free medical treatment, employment and education. The legislation also includes special provisions for the care of unaccompanied minors and members of vulnerable groups such as victims of torture. However, Amnesty International’s research reveals that for most asylum-seekers these rights are not respected in reality. This section assesses the obstacles asylum-seekers face to gain access to accommodation and health care. In interviews with 51 asylum-seekers returned to Greece under the Dublin Regulation, many of them reported significant problems in relation to these issues. Index: EUR 25/001/2010 Amnesty International March 2010