50 percent in 2008.”111 Because of the increase in illegal immigration on the border with
Turkey, Greece has seen an increase in anti-immigrant rhetoric and has begun to build a nearly
13-kilometer fence.112
These developments, along with the continued implementation of the Dublin II
Regulation, which can relocate unauthorized immigrants located throughout Europe to their
initial EU country of entry until their cases are adjudicated, has turned Greece into the
"storehouse" of migrants to Europe.113
Greece continues to be caught between EU and Turkish politics. Even with the EUTurkey Joint Statement in place, asylum claims made in Greece still have to be considered
according to the existing Dublin Regulation, suggesting that those with valid and verified family
connections would be transferred to the appropriate EU Member State to complete asylum
procedures rather than be returned to Turkey.114 In the wake of the March 18 summit, EU
officials suggested the legal basis of returns of potential candidates for family reunification was
still to be determined. 115 This results in leaving many individuals in immigration “purgatory.”
While Greece has not fully abandoned their own immigration and detention policy, in
light of the acquiescence to EU policy demands, reform is still needed. Greece needs to
continually work to determine and execute a better system of determining who is an irregular
migrant and who is an asylum seeker. However, without the backing of the EU with monetary
support, the deplorable conditions and back up within the country will remain.
111
Country Profile—Greece, TRANSNATIONAL OBSERVATORY FOR REFUGEE’S RESETTLEMENT IN
EUROPE, http://www.resettlement-observatory.eu/documents/greece/outputs/countryprofile/countryprofile.pdf,
(last visited Dec. 1, 2016).
112
Id.
113
Id.
114
Kasimis, supra note 78.
115
Elizabeth Collett, The Paradox of the EU-Turkey Refugee Deal, MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE (Mar.
2016), http://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/paradox-eu-turkey-refugee-deal (last visited Dec.1, 2016).
34
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