3. EU member states alongside Greece should provide asylum seekers with appropriate and effective, safe legal channels for reaching the EU, while facilitating, instead of obstructing, the reunification of families, as has increasingly been the case throughout past months. 4. In this context, upcoming discussions on the reconsideration of the Dublin Regulation should focus on finding ways for sharing, rather than outsourcing responsibilities at the fringes of (or beyond) the EU. In doing so, the views and wishes of asylum seekers, as well as their wider family links should also be taken into consideration, in harmonization with both the realities of forced displacement (uniting remaining, rather than exclusively “nuclear”, family members), and beneficiaries’ cultural norms and customs. Access to (first-line) Reception and Asylum Granting third-country nationals/stateless persons access to asylum and reception is a positive (legal) obligation of the Greek and EU member states, as enshrined in article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.201 Despite this, an increasing number of reports and allegations on push-backs being enforced at the Greek-Turkish land borders of Evros have come into the limelight during recent years, with the Greek state as of yet showing no indications of any intentions to give the matter its proper gravity and address it. It is to be reminded that, aside from directly exposing third-country nationals/stateless persons to a series of life-threatening risks, as well as to exposing them to inhumane and degrading treatment, collective expulsions are strictly prohibited under Article 19 (1 and 2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as well as article 33(1) of the Geneva Convention on the status of refugees.202 Therefore, the Greek Government should: 5. Order the long-due investigation of the multiple reports and allegations on pushbacks enacted at the Evros land borders and ensure that all perpetrators are found and brought to justice. This investigation should be conducted in an indepth and transparent manner, with all stakeholders informed of its evolution and outcomes, and victims provided remedy for the injustice. 6. Establish an independent body that will be responsible for monitoring the situation at Greece’s northeastern borders, at least until such time as it can be safely and unambiguously argued that no newcomer is arbitrarily stripped of their right to seek asylum and/or exposed to the risk of refoulement. 7. Undertake all necessary actions to ensure that upon arrival in Greece, all thirdcountry nationals and stateless persons are swiftly transferred to an open RIC or other competent, short-term, transit facility, where they can be registered, provided with the necessary primary care, informed on their rights and obligations and granted access international protection. Inter alia, this also necessitates 59