Image source: amnesty
Amnesty International has revealed the conditions under which asylum-seekers on the Greek island of Samos are being illegally detained.
According to Amnesty’s findings, the detention conditions for asylum-seekers in an EU-funded center on the island of Samos, Greece, are arbitrary and systematically illegal.
The report, titled Samos: ‘We feel like we’re in prison on the island’: Unlawful Detention and Poor Conditions in an EU-Funded Refugee Centre, was published on July 30, 2024.
Amnesty conducted its research between late 2023 and July 2024, based on interviews with residents of the center, representatives of Greek authorities, civil society organizations, and UN agencies.
The report highlights the deteriorating conditions for asylum seekers at the center, warning against “the indiscriminate use of freedom restriction orders, which exposes residents to illegal and arbitrary detention,” as stated on the website Migrant News.
The report details how staff at the center implement a costly and abusive punitive model: “Under the pretext of registering and identifying individuals, the Greek authorities de facto detain all arrivals, including vulnerable groups, in violation of their rights. This is occurring in a facility funded by the EU, which is supposed to comply with European standards.”
The report notes that detention orders apply “absolutely to new arrivals without considering individual circumstances, in violation of international law and standards, which stipulate that immigration detention is permissible only in very exceptional cases.”
Muchina called for a reassessment of current policies, emphasizing the need to “abolish Greek asylum rules concerning restrictions on freedom.” She urged the EU to act urgently “to ensure that the use of restrictive measures during migration procedures does not result in widespread illegal detention and other abuses at the Samos center.”
Since 2020, the EU has supported Greece in establishing closed monitored centers targeting “hotspots” for asylum seekers, pledging that these centers would meet European standards and provide better living conditions for future events.
In 2021, the first center opened on the island of Samos, funded with €43 million, and was promoted as a “model example” for future centers.
According to Amnesty International, an asylum-seeker is a person who has left their country to seek protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in another country but has not yet been officially recognized as a refugee. Seeking asylum is a human right, meaning that everyone should be allowed to enter another country to seek asylum.
The UNHCR defines an asylum-seeker as a person whose application has not yet been processed for a safe place to live.
Same Justice Human Rights emphasizes the necessity for the European Union to monitor the centers it has pledged to ensure meet humanitarian standards, and calls on the organization to protect asylum seekers from potential violations they may face during their refugee journey.
