»The truth may be bitter, but it must be told« Introduction Asylum seekers are being sent back to Greece from Germany and other European countries without their applications for asylum having been thoroughly examined. The legal basis for this is the European Dublin II Regulation under which the state through which the asylum seeker entered European territory is responsible for processing the asylum claim. For a large number of people, particularly those from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia, the escape route leads them across the Aegean into Greece. In the course of our research we interviewed more than 100 refugees. Among them were a significant number of refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of them had attempted to reach one of the Greek islands in the Mediterranean off the Turkish coast. In other cases, the refugees reported their experiences in crossing the border in the Evros region between Turkey and Greece. There are two main routes into Greece from Turkey: one is across the Turkish-Greek land border in the northeast of the country, in the Evros river region. The other route lies via the Mediterranean: refugees attempt to reach one of the Greek islands situated only a few kilometres away from the Turkish mainland. The islands in the North Aegean, particularly those of Chios, Samos and Lesbos are important points of entry to the EU for arriving by sea. ■ Committee for Solidarity with Refugees in Chios ■ Movement for Human Rights – Solidarity with Refugees in Samos In the past few months PRO ASYL has become increasingly concerned about reports from asylum seekers who, during hearings in Germany, state that whilst in Greece, they were given no opportunity to file an asylum claim in accordance with the requirements of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Furthermore, the numbers of refugees reporting maltreatment and attempted refoulement by the Greek coast guard has increased. Between 12th July and 14th August 2007, a delegation from PRO ASYL undertook a fact-finding mission in order to examine the circumstances in the area. During the trip PRO ASYL was accompanied and supported by the Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants. The focus of our research was access to the Greek territory, reception and detention conditions of newly arrived refugees on the islands of Chios, Samos and Lesbos and the particular situation of minors. The research trip included a visit to the Greek detention centres (Special Holding Facilities for Aliens) in Chios, Samos-City and Mitilini and interviews with refugees, officials in charge from the local authorities, representatives of the coast guard and representatives of human rights groups from the islands in question and from Athens and Patras. 4 Introduction We conducted interviews on islands in the northern Aegean with the following organisations: ■ PROS FYGI – Initiative for Solidarity with Refugees in Mitilini/Lesbos. Further conversations were held with: ■ Representatives of police authorities (Chios, Samos and Mitilini) and the Prefecture in Mitilini; ■ Representatives of the Greek coast guard; ■ Representatives of the UNHCR in Greece; Representatives of the Civil Society Organizations who play an important part in the reception of refugees and the asylum procedure: ■ Greek Council for Refugees (GCR); ■ Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims; ■ Ecumenical Program for Refugees; ■ Network for Social Support to Migrants and Refugees (Athens) and ■ Association for the Support of Youth, ARSIS (Athens) The research team consisted of the lawyer Marianna Tzeferakou (Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants in Athens), Günter Burkhardt (Managing Director of PRO ASYL), Karl Kopp (Director for European affairs from PRO ASYL and member of the board of the European Council for Refugees and Exiles – ECRE) and the journalist Elias Bierdel (Borderline Europe). The fact-finding mission was financed by a grant from Foundation PRO ASYL and Förderverein PRO ASYL (friends of PRO ASYL). The following report is based primarily on conversations that took place during this fact-finding mission, as well as on observations made on site. Complementary information is supplied by several publicly available documents.