Coping with a fundamental rights emergency – The situation of people crossing the Greek border in an irregular manner four bodies were found in the area – all young males who had died of hypothermia. On 29 January 2011, the FRA counted 48 unmarked graves during its on‐site visit at the make‐shift cemetery on a hill about 500 metres from the nearest paved road near the village of Sidero. The treatment of persons apprehended at the border is not conducive to identifying persons in need of international protection. There is a complete absence of independent social and legal counselling, apart from periodic visits by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In addition, persons who submit an asylum request at the border are likely to be held in detention for much longer, as they need to wait for the first instance procedure to be completed before being released. Although a considerable number of persons come from refugee‐producing countries, such as Afghanistan, Somalia or Iraq, only 80 asylum applications were lodged in Evros in 2010. This situation contributes further to the well‐documented congestion of the Attica Aliens Police Directorate in Athens, thereby impacting on the Greek asylum system as a whole. International organisations, bodies and mechanisms – including UNHCR, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), UN Special Rapporteur on Torture – as well as non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) – such as Human Rights Watch, Doctors without Borders and Pro‐Asyl – have reported the gaps in the asylum process and highlighted the insufficient reception facilities and inhuman conditions in detention facilities in Greece. UNHCR has described the situation in Evros as a “humanitarian crisis”, thus implying the need for an emergency response and making concrete suggestions for urgent measures to be taken. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that the return of an asylum seeker from Belgium to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation constituted a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.1 National administrations and courts in several EU Member States have suspended returns of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation. Requests for preliminary rulings on returns under Dublin II are also pending before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).2 The Greek response Although described as a humanitarian emergency, the situation in Evros is not handled as such. No emergency situation has been declared by the Greek government. Civil protection assets have not yet been deployed. More generally, there is no evidence of a comprehensive emergency response to address the conditions in the detention centres despite the availability of EU funds. According to the 1 2 ECtHR, M.S.S. v Belgium and Greece, No. 30696/09, 21 January 2011. CJEU, C‐411/10, NS v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, reference for a preliminary ruling, 18 August 2010; and C‐ 493/10, M.E. and Others v. Refugee Applications Commissioner, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, reference for a preliminary ruling, 11 October 2010. Both cases were joined by order of the President of the CJEU on 9 November 2010. 5