9. Asylum and the asylum procedure in detention methods are incapable of replacing the physical presence of a qualified interpreter who facilitates clear communication. The consultative presence of UNHCR during the first interview cannot redress the absence of basic safeguards. In any case the UNHCR member is not present in all interviews. 9.2.2 Lost documents or other personal items, refusal to accept submitted documents in a foreign language, and no translation mechanism for documents Documents carried by refugees proving their asylum case, which were temporarily confiscated by police officers, were lost or never returned to their owners after the release or during the interview. A.R. carried with him a USB-stick and a hard disc with data proving his asylum case. The police confiscated these without providing him with some form of registration receipt. Upon his release, his personal belongings were never returned to him. During his first interview the police requested these documents. He explained what happened. The police did not even refer to this in the interview protocol. 61 The police authorities refuse to register documents in a foreign language. They request the detainees to bring documents in the original and have them officially translated into Greek. It is clear that no asylum seeker in detention in Evros has access to the official translation services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens. M.Z. appeared before a police officer for the asylum interview. He had with him original documents that proved his asylum claim. The police refused to accept or even to take them into account because they were not officially translated. When M.Z. arrived in Athens he asked the translation services of the Ministry of Foreign Affaires to translate the documents. However, there is no official translation from Farsi to Greek available. During or after the interview, the police authorities do not provide any translation of the documents related to the asylum examination, which have been handed in or shown to the police. The police do not even take into consideration the documents, and at the end decide on the case without being aware of the context of the documents handed in by the asylum seekers. 9.3. Decisions and appeals B.M., detainee in the Feres border guard station, had a number of CDs with him. He was not allowed to take these items to his asylum interview. Before the publication of PD 114/2010 in December 2010, the asylum applications were regularly being dismissed in the first instance without detailed legal reasoning and ■ »With regard to the above examination and the relative administrative file, no sufficient element was found for the submission of the claimant to the refugee status; was lodged in order to prevent his deportation from our country, to secure his release and his permanent stay in our country; With regard to the above examination and the relative administrative file, no sufficient element was found for the submission of the claimant to the subsidiary protection; With regard to the fact that the above application is considered as clearly inadmissible and the accelerated procedure is applied in accordance with art 17 par 3 and 4 a’ Presidential Decree 114/2010; With regard to the above examination and the relative administrative file, no sufficient element was found for the submission of the claimant to humanitarian protection; With regard to the fact that the claimant claimed asylum on a basis which is clearly not related to the criteria for the granting of refugee status, or subsidiary protection, he is considered an economic migrant. His asylum claim 190 Decision of F.H. from Iran; April 26, 2011. For these reasons we decide: – The examination of his asylum application with the accelerated procedure; – To not grant refugee status to the claimant; – To not grant subsidiary protection to the claimant; – To not grant humanitarian protection to the claimant.«190

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