6 2. Evros in the context of Greek and European Migration Policy (2010-2011) In the context of the Greek asylum reform the transitional Presidential Decree 114/2010 on asylum determination procedures entered into force (until the establishment of the new asylum service).11 It reintroduced the Appeals Board into the asylum procedure and other provisions, dealing with the heavy backlog of a reportedly 47,000 pending asylum appeals. In January 2011, the new Law 3907/2011 was passed. It provided for the establishment of an Asylum Service and a Service of First Reception, adapting the provisions of the European Directive 2008/115/EC, concerning common rules and procedures in Member States for the return of illegally staying third-country nationals. Until now no substantial change in the asylum procedure took place. Neither the Asylum Service nor the Service of First Reception is yet in function. The asylum procedure remains to be under the orders of the Ministry of Protection of the Citizen – which basically means under the auspices of the police – and is still dysfunctional and ineffective. The access to international protection is restricted and in many cases fully denied. Even in Athens the situation of accessing asylum procedures has not improved at all. People in need of international protection still cannot have access to the building of the Aliens Police in Petrou Ralli Street and face imminent danger of deportation back to the country of origin, where their lives are in danger, or to a third country, facing further violations. No identification procedure takes place to protect vulnerable cases. Minors remainwithout legal representation and protection. Asylum seekers have no access to reception conditions or social support, facing degrading living conditions. Given the deep financial crisis and the cutting of wages and social rights, as well as the rising percentage of unemployed, surviving in Greece becomes ever more difficult. The detention conditions in Greece continue to lack basic safeguards and violate the essence of human dignity itself. In a public statement Mr. Papoutsis announced that since February 2011 and until the end of July 2011, when the Appeal Boards established by the PD 114/2010 became operational, 848 appeals from the backlog had been examined together with another 411 new appeals in- 11 The decree retained the police as the competent authority for the initial examination of asylum claims; See: http://www.yptp.gr/asylo.php?option=ozo_content& perform=view&id=3474&Itemid=465&lang= 12 http://www.minocp.gov.gr/index.php?option=ozo_content &perform=view&id=3790&Itemid=513&lang= 13 In 2002 the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey signed a creasing the recognition rate to an impressive 12,35 % from less than 1 % in the previous years.12 This is obviously an improvement. The Minster however, never mentions the statistic trick, that among this 12,35% are people (basically originating from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan) whose claims were pending over the last 10 years and it was easy to predict, that they were in need of international protection according to the Geneva Convention, the Directive or due to the long lasting residence in Greece. It is obvious that so far, there have been no substantial improvements in the asylum procedure and in the detention or reception conditions in Greece and there is no protection for those in need. The deep economical and social crisis affects the asylum reform program in a negative way and further deteriorates the lives of the people. 2.2 The humanitarian crisis in Evros and the military response The developments in Evros region are paradigmatic to understand the direction taken by the Greek government in its migration policy. While the percentage of border crossings through the Evros region was on the rise, the Greek government held meetings with its Turkish counterparts in order to strengthen and improve cooperation in border management and to better implement the bilateral Readmission Protocol.13 In the following months deportations to the countries of origin and readmissions to Turkey were systematically increased. In a second step during summer when the number of arrivals reached a peak, the government decided a policy shift on the local level, in order to stem the flow of irregular migrants in the Evros region, by adopting measures discouraging border crossing, such as extended detention periods of those whose deportation is feasible and of asylum seekers. The consequence of these local policies were overcrowded detention centres, further deteriorating the already inhuman and degrading detention conditions as well as multiple human rights violations upon the very first step into Greek, thus, European territory. Readmission Protocol on the detailed co-operation procedures between the Ministry of Public Order, in Greece, and the Interior Ministry, in Turkey, for the readmission of citizens of either country or of a third country, who enter either country unlawfully pursuant on the »Agreement to combat crime and especially terrorism, organised crime, illicit drug trafficking and illegal migration« signed in 2001.