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newcomers to declare an address, they do not inform them
neither about their right to ask for reception conditions
nor for the implications the declaration of an address to the
asylum procedure may have. Many asylum seekers declare
the address of somebody they know in Athens, but in the
end they do not stay in the declared house. The authorities
seem to deny writing on the card that somebody is homeless. In some cases the police registered only the address of
GCR (»Solomou 25«) or in other cases generally »Omonia –
Athens«. Even the applications for housing (according to
PD 220/2007) of asylum seekers submitted with the help
of a lawyer are not being registered or referred to the competent authorities of the Ministry of Health. Until today
no asylum seeker has been provided with reception conditions upon release from Evros detention centers.
Once arriving in Athens the asylum seekers do not have
unrestricted access to the building of the Aliens Police in
Petrou Ralli (General Police Directorate of Attica). Thus,
they cannot declare their new residence193 or request for
housing (reception conditions).194 Even if they achieve to
access the asylum services, the needed confirmation of the
existence of their file in Evros is never sent. This results in
a vicious circle, where the asylum seekers have to try again
and again without any registration of their request.
The declaration of wrong addresses and the lack of reception conditions has serious implications to the asylum procedure and can prevent the asylum seekers from receiving
notifications of developments on their asylum claims such
as the date of their asylum interview, the issuance of an
asylum decision or procedural deadlines. The loss of notification of the dates of the first and second interview as well
as the loss of the deadline to appeal before the competent
authority will stop automatically the asylum procedure
and the asylum seeker will face again the danger of deportation.
The wrong declaration of an address has also implications
for the social rights of the asylum seekers, as they cannot
obtain neither tax numbers nor work permits.
9. Asylum and the asylum procedure in detention
Furthermore, when they cannot renew their pink cards
easily because either they have no access to the Aliens
Police in Athens or there is no prompt response from the
police directorates in Evros reconfirming the existence of
their file, they remain for long periods with expired asylum
seeker’s cards. This exposed them to further violations and
leaves them with no access to their rights. Irregularities in
the renewal procedure can also lead to the loss of deadlines
for appeals as the law prescribes. In case that the applicant
does not appear to renew the asylum seeker’s card on the
following working day after the card’s expiry and the deadline for appeals has elapsed it is assumed that the applicant
has implicitly withdrawn or abandoned his/ her application.
Many cannot even afford to buy a ticket to travel again
to Orestiada to their first asylum interview. There are no
provisions for vulnerable cases like asylum seekers with
serious health problems who have to travel to Orestiada for
the first interview are set. Thus, many vulnerable cases of
asylum seekers do not attend the first interview and the
authorities stop automatically their asylum procedure and
close their files.
The asylum seekers cannot lodge the appeal against the
first decision because they have no access to the Aliens
Police and/ or the police arbitrarily deny registering the
appeal. In most of the cases applications for international
protection in Evros are examined with the accelerated procedure, which practically means that they have to appeal
against the rejection within 15 days after the day of serving
of the decision.
The vast majority of asylum seekers in Athens – even if they
manage to apply for reception conditions – cannot have
access to them due to huge gaps in the infrastructure.
Additionally, they don’t receive any daily allowances. They
live under deplorably conditions in Athens or in other main
residence areas of migrants. Usually the newcomers have
to live under rough conditions: homeless, unemployed and
without hope. They are exposed to criminality, exploitation
and racist attacks.
Surviving under these conditions, desperation grows from
day to day and the majority of the asylum seekers try to get
out of the country.
193 Art 9 PD 114/2010; inform the authorities competent to receive the application of their current place of residence or address and the authorities competent to receive or to examine
of any changes there of as soon as possible. They shall also be
obliged to accept any notification or service at the most
recent place of residence or address, which they have
indicated.
194 PD 220/2007
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