Politik Archive - Page 5 of 13

Landmark court rulings in Rome and Strasbourg

Erik Marquardt on 31 January 2023

In recent weeks, there have been two landmark judgments in European courts. First, at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the Croatian authorities were indicted, and second, at the Court in Rome, the Italian authorities were indicted. In both cases, the state actors were found guilty.

Three prisoners burn to death in Croatian jail cell

In December 2017, Croatia became accused by a victim at the ECHR. A fire in a Croatian police border station killed three detained fugitives. The plaintiff was seriously injured. The four people were discovered in the morning by border police in a truck coming from Serbia. They were taken to the police station, arrested and taken to a basement room used for detention of asylum seekers before they are forcibly dragged to Serbia.

In the evening, a fire broke out in the cell and no police forces were on hand to release the detainees. The Court found that there were serious deficiencies in the supervision of the detainees. The ECtHR ruled that there were two violations of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Italyâ€™s navy and coast guard responsible for death of 268 people

On October 11, 2013, a shipwreck occurred off Lampedusa, in which 268 people drowned. At the court in Rome, the Italian coast guard and the navy were charged with failure to render assistance by the survivors. The Libyan coast guard had pursued the boat for a long time and fired at it. As a result, the boat was in acute distress, and the people on board sent several distress calls to the coastguards in Italy and Malta. The Italian authorities arrived on the scene much too late. The court in Rome ruled after a long trial that the Italian coast guard and navy were guilty of the shipwreck and responsible for the deaths, as they did not fulfill their duties as competent authorities and did not act in accordance with international law. However, the defendants escaped conviction as the case is already time-barred. ProAsyl, together with borderline-europe and AlarmPhone, state that ânow it has to be examined whether in civil proceedings the Italian state can be obliged to pay compensation to the victimsâ.

Important symbols, but no punishment for the accused

In both cases, the state authorities were held responsible for the incidents and found guilty. However, in both cases, the defendants were not effectively punished. Nevertheless, the two verdicts send a symbolically important signal for the protection of the rights of refugees in Europe.

Question to the Commission on pushbacks from Italy to Greece

Erik Marquardt on January 27, 2023

A week ago Lighthouse Reports published a report on the results of their research on pushbacks on tourist ferries from Italy to Greece. They found evidence that asylum seekers, including children, are held in unofficial prisons – sometimes handcuffed – during the crossing in the belly of passenger ships. SRF and ARD Monitor were also involved in the research and have reported on it in television reports.

On January 25, together with five other Green MEPs, I submitted a written question to the European Commission. I would like to know to what extent these illegal pushbacks from Italy to Greece are compatible with EU asylum law, and what follow-up investigations are planned from the Commission to investigate this matter. Another question is about the bilateral readmission agreement between Italy and Greece from 1999 and whether this agreement is at all in line with the EU acquis.

You can find my collected written questions to the Commission and the answers here.

My request

Lighthouse Reports, together with SRF, ARD Monitor, Al Jazeera, Il Domani and Solomon, published a report on January 18, 2023, documenting the practice of illegal pushbacks on passenger ships from Italy to Greece. Evidence shows that asylum seekers apprehended by Italian authorities in Adriatic ports are not able to claim asylum upon arrival, but are detained in port and then pushed back to Greece. Reports from individuals of Afghan, Syrian, or Iraqi origin indicate that they have been detained, handcuffed, and confined in confined spaces in segregated facilities on passenger ships during their deportation from Italy to Greece.

In the European Commission's view, to what extent is this practice compatible with the EU acquis on asylum?
Is the bilateral readmission agreement between IT and GR compatible with the EU acquis?
What follow-up action does the European Commission intend to take following the above report?

Global inequality growing extremely fast

Erik Marquardt on 19 January 2023

Since 2020, the richest one percent of the world's population has made more wealth than the remaining 99 percent combined. At the same time, every tenth person in the world is starving. You can find the Oxfam study on this here.

Roundtable discussion on the Global Gateway Initiative

Erik Marquardt on November 18, 2022

Together with the organization Eurodad I have organized an event on the new Global Gateway Initiative organized by the European Commission. The initiative aims to bring together development goals and geopolitical interests to close the current financial gap for the implementation of development goals by mobilizing over 300 billion euros by the end of 2027. In order to facilitate an exchange between the Commission, Eurodad and representatives from the European Parliament and civil society, we met on 16/11/2022 to discuss the initiative in depth.

Our panel consisted of Farwa Sial, senior policy and advocacy officer for development finance at Eurodad, Nicolas StoetzelDeputy Head of Unit in DG INTPA of the European Commission, Shereen Talaat, Co-Executive Director of the Arab Watch Coalition, Wester Van Gaal, from the EUobserver and Frank Vanaerschot, Director at Counter Balance.

The Global Gateway a neocolonial project?

One of the major criticisms of the initiative is that it conflates the EU's geopolitical interests with development goals. The primary goal of development cooperation should be poverty reduction and not to strengthen the EU as a global political power. To ensure that the initiative does not have a neocolonial flavor, it is important to focus on a partnership of equals, the NGOs urge. Critics complain of a lack of transparency in the selection of projects, in the monitoring of development impact, and in human rights.

Investments via the private sector

The Global Gateway Initiative prioritizes investments through the private sector. However, this often only results in investments in already stronger economic regions, which means that the countries that need support the most benefit little or not at all. In addition, there is a risk that if private investment is prioritized in education and health care, those essential public facilities will be privatized and become more expensive, and thus no longer accessible to all segments of the population. There has also been criticism that the EU needs to take more responsibility and leadership within this initiative. Currently, it is not clear to partners and the public who is politically responsible for the projects. However, the Covid pandemic in particular has shown that clear leadership and accountability is needed, especially in uncertain times, to put funds where they will help those who need them. Eurodad has criticized, among other things, that partner countries in particular would also prefer other methods of financing, for example debt relief or direct financial support.

Results of the discussion – lack of communication from the Commission.

In the course of our discussion, it came out that for many of the concerns, mechanisms and rules are already in place to ensure that, for example, development goals and partner country interests are respected. However, the Commission has not communicated clearly enough in this regard, as Mr. Stoetzel had to admit.

Nicolas Stoetzel was able to dispel many concerns within our event. Together with the partner countries, relevant investment areas are identified and project proposals are developed. All projects within the Global Gateways are subject to the rules of the NDICI and the development goals of the partner countries. Clearly, it will be a challenge to reconcile the commercial interests of private investors with development objectives, but this is of enormous importance to close the financial gap. More information will be published soon on the website of the Commission to clarify the questions that came up in our discussion. In general, it must be said that it is positive when funds are mobilized and projects are financed.

European Financial Architecture for Development – an overview

Erik Marquardt on 27 October 2022

In 2018, the EU Council commissioned a group of experts to develop a Analysis of the European development cooperation and its stakeholders and to make suggestions for improvements. The report of the expert group was available in October 2019 and proposed as its main point the establishment of the new European Climate and Sustainable Development Bank (ECSDB). This should bundle and centrally coordinate European development cooperation in order to avoid duplication and competition. However, this would also have meant that nation states would have had to relinquish competencies, which is why the proposal was rejected by the Council. Two other proposals from the Council, which would have restructured and partially merged the EIB and EBRD, were also rejected by the Council. The only remaining proposal was to keep everything as it was, but to improve coordination within the EU: This version is called Status Quo+. After long negotiations on amendments, compromises and details of how the new overarching structure for European development cooperation should look like, on 26.10.2022 the EFAD Report adopted by the Development Committee.

Green position on the StatusQuo+

So our work as Greens in the European Parliament was to shape the report on the Status Quo+, with many amendments, so that it represents a real improvement in the design of European development cooperation. Through intensive discussions, we Greens managed to sharpen several elements in the report and to leave out other things that in our opinion have nothing to do with development cooperation, such as using development funds for migration defense. Among other things, we were able to put a focus on climate projects and biodiversity promotion, and add monitoring mechanisms and feedback analysis to projects. Unfortunately, there are also a few items that we are not so happy with. These include an amendment on the sustainability transformation of the African energy sector. Not so bad, actually. However, the focus is not on sustainable energy access for all people in Africa, but on sustainable energy production for export.

Climate targets in the EFAD report

One of our key demands was to prioritize climate and development goals over trade and geopolitical interests. It was important to us that all development funds are compatible with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and contribute significantly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially projects that are supported through mixed financing. Development funds should no longer be spent on sectors that fuel the climate crisis, and at least 30% of the funds should clearly contribute to achieving the climate goals. Furthermore, it was important to us that the new EU taxonomy on energy resources should at most serve as a minimum standard for investments in the energy sector, but actually the development banks should be a best-practice example for sustainable change to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and the SDGs.

Actors in European development cooperation

With regard to the European Investment Bank (EIB), several points were important to us. On the one hand, the improvement of its social and environmental policies, especially with a focus on the protection of human rights and endangered ecosystems. This also includes increasing transparency and control in the cooperation with subcontractors and their activities. In addition, it was important to us that we urgently need a clear mandate description for the new branch EIB Global and also here more transparency about its activities. In order to increase transparency and control at the EIB, we demanded that the European Investment Bank, as well as the Commission, regularly communicate with the Parliament to report on their activities. To strengthen partnerships between the EU and developing countries, we have also called for the meaningful involvement of local populations, civil society, and non-governmental organizations in development projects.

Private funds for development cooperation

In development cooperation, there is a considerable gap between the financial resources that are available and the amount that is actually needed. Mixed financing is often used as a solution. Mixed financing means that private investments are supported by public funds and secured against risks. We have managed to limit mixed financing to areas where, after careful evaluation, it can add value to the local economy. This is because often this method is highly praised, but there are studies that question its help, especially for the most vulnerable developing countries. The protection of essential public services, such as education, health, and social security, should remain a priority and should not, under any circumstances, reinforce existing inequalities.

Policy Coherence for Development, Gender Mainstreaming and Better Coordination.

Another elementary point that we were able to include in the compromises was a call to strengthen the policy coherence measures of all actors involved. This means that any measures and initiatives in different policy areas have to be aligned with other projects, so that, for example, the achievements of one development project are not cancelled out by another project. The report also calls on EFAD actors to strengthen due diligence in their operations, mainstream gender equality, and protect human rights in all operations. The EIB and EBRD are encouraged to coordinate their work and projects more effectively and to clarify their division of labor so that each bank can focus on its respective core competencies, thus avoiding duplication and undercutting.

Now we go into the trilogy

As you can see, the report tries to make significant improvements in many areas and we Greens were able to influence the new overarching structure for European development cooperation with our ideas. Once the report has been adopted by the Parliament, the next phase will begin: the trilogues. I hope that we will be able to push through many of the compromises we negotiated in the Parliament in the triologues, in order to make European development cooperation more sustainable and effective in the future.

Civil society talks in WrocÅaw: Resilience and Resistance

Erik Marquardt on 26 October 2022

Our Conference against criminalization of solidarity and for support of civil society

On October 22 and 23, our group, my office in Brussels and the Polish Greens organized a conference to bring together people from all over Europe who are affected by criminalization. Criminalization means helpers are put on trial for helping others on the run in a humanitarian way. This is meant to deter and ensure that the flight to Europe remains life-threatening and inhumane. Particularly affected, however, are refugees themselves, who are criminalized. Either directly for fleeing or because they are accused of belonging to trafficking networks simply because they steered a boat.

The choice for our conference "Civil Society Talks: Resilience and Resistance" fell on Wrocław, because the Criminalization of Polish Civil Society Increased Particularly Strongly has since the Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka systematically brought people to the Polish border. But also because the city has taken in a particularly large number of refugees from Ukraine, who now have a relevant part of the population represent.

Double standards in Poland

On the one hand, solidarity for people from Ukraine in Poland is very great. On the other hand, it is also bitter to see how the solidarity is limited only to the immediate neighbors and other people are still not recognized as refugees because they have a different skin color or religion. Especially in Poland it is absurd to see how great the solidarity with refugees from Ukraine is everywhere in the country and people who help at the Ukrainian border are celebrated as heroes; while those who do exactly the same at the border with Belarus are treated like dangerous criminals.

It is necessary to help on the border with Belarus, especially in winter. So far died at least 17 people at the border between Poland and Belarus – most of them from the cold. All activists with whom we have spoken assume that the number of unreported cases is significantly higher.

Great interest

The interest in the event was great. During the day on Saturday, around 100 people came, including a great many interested people and activists from Wrocław itself. During the day, the event took place in the venerable Ossolinski National Library, where criminalized people from all over Europe shared their experiences and networked.

Guests were the Polish NGOs Blue dot, which creates various places where Ukrainian refugees are helped. Nomadawho provide legal advice and supervise various integration projects and the Mothers at the Borders, offering support directly at the Polish external border and demonstrating against the unequal treatment of refugees.

Criminalization

The big panel of the conference took place on Saturday evening at the Wyspa Tamka Cultural Center and was moderated by me. I am especially happy that Hamid Khalizad shared his story with us. The Greek authorities accused him of being a trafficker simply because he himself had to flee to Greece. He has since, fortunately, been acquitted. The criminalization of human rights defenders who are themselves migrants is far too underreported because they are in a particularly vulnerable situation. They can face deportation, pushback, arbitrary detention and loss of status, as well as harsh financial, social and economic consequences.

Because Hamid unfortunately could not be there in person, his letter was sent by Seán Binder read aloud. Seán Binder was imprisoned in Greece for several months and the trial against him is still ongoing, only because the Greek authorities did not want to continue to accept that he and his organization were Free Humanitarians Rescue people from distress at sea in the Aegean Sea. The trial against him and other sea rescuers has already been postponed several times for flimsy reasons, leaving them in a space of legal uncertainty from which they cannot easily escape. The lawyer Elli Kriona From Hias Greece reported on the lack of rule of law and legal advice to refugees – especially on the islands.

The Polish perspective

The Polish perspective on the subject have given us Mariusz Kurnyta and Marta Gorczynska pointed out. Mariusz lives near the border and was a soldier. When he heard that people were freezing to death not far from his house, he decided to do the obvious and humane thing and help them. He is shocked to report how the Polish authorities treat people at the border and, unfortunately, how many of his neighbors and friends do not agree at all with him helping fugitives at the Belarusian border. Marta is a human rights lawyer and part of the Grupa Granica alliance, which spontaneously formed on the Belarusian border over a year ago. She spoke primarily about the humanitarian crisis on the Belarusian border, to which the alliance also has a Summary has written. In addition, Marta also worked on this Helsinki Foundation of Human Rights report entitled. "The lawless Zone: Polish-Belarusian Border Monitoring."

In addition to the Greek and Polish perspective, Marta Llonch, a lawyer actively working at the border with Melilla, was also a guest and reported on the human rights situation on the ground, where in June this year at least 37 people died. After the event, the participants talked in an informal atmosphere and took another look around Wrocław.

Shrinking Spaces

The next morning there was another event on "Shrinking Spaces", i.e. the restriction of space for civil society. Here the focus was on how attempts are being made to concretely restrict space for NGOs so that they can no longer do their work and help people fleeing. At the conference, I met many people who were put on trial for doing the right thing. The thing we would all say should be done. Not let people drown, freeze to death or die of thirst. It's a disgrace to us as a European Union that people are being put on trial for that. And it is an equally great shame that people are thrown into prison in EU countries because they themselves had to flee. Our goal remains to create a friendly environment for solidarity and to fight the criminalization of civil courage. In addition, independent human rights monitoring at our external borders must be strengthened. Finally, we need to better fund humanitarian aid and promote a balanced EU migration policy instead of criminalizing it. In short, we need to make policies that are compatible with the values we promote.

Request: Cases of "drift-backs" in the Aegean Sea

Erik Marquardt on 21 October 2022

I have put a question to the Commission about the documented „drift-backs“ in the Aegean Sea. To my question whether the Commission finally admits these human rights violations at the Greek border I receive once again no answer. The Commission remains vague in its statements and only points out that it has asked the Greek authorities to investigate all allegations. However, it is self-explanatory that this does not yield much when an authority that commits human rights violations itself is supposed to investigate its own misconduct. Now that this is the case, the Commission, as guardian of the treaties, should initiate infringement proceedings against Greece to clarify the widely documented violations of the rule of law and human rights. After all, our borders are only protected if our fundamental rights are also protected at them.

You can find the request with answers in several languages here.

My request

The research agency "Forensic Architecture" recently reported that the Greek Coast Guard, partly with the assistance of Frontex, has abandoned refugees on life rafts in 1,018 cases so that they would drift back from Greek waters to the Turkish coast, also known as "drift-back." Although there is growing evidence of this practice, the Commission's response to it so far has been very muted and ambiguous, giving the impression that it wants to cover up for the Greek state agencies instead of acting as a guardian of the treaties.

Does the Commission intend to take joint action with Frontex with regard to the above cases, or does it expect the Greek Transparency Authority to make these incidents the subject of an independent investigation?
In dealing with the systematic human rights violations alleged against the Greek Government, does the Commission take account of the conflict of interest in view of the party affiliation of Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, who is responsible in the College of Commissioners for promoting our European way of life?
Is the Commission finally acknowledging the frequent and serious human rights violations at Greece's borders, following the publication of a long list of evidence by a wide range of established actors?

The reply of Ylva Johansson on behalf of the European Commission on 13.10.2022

The responsibility for investigating alleged refoulements lies with the national authorities. In this context, the Greek authorities informed the Commission about measures taken to ensure the respect of fundamental rights. These include internal control procedures, investigations by independent authorities and the possibility for prosecutors to investigate allegations*. The Commission will continue to work with the Greek authorities to monitor progress made.
Vice President Schinas has no conflict of interest. According to the Code of Conduct for Commission members, a conflict of interest exists when a personal interest may affect the independent performance of a Commission member's duties. Personal interests include, but are not limited to, potential
Benefits or advantages for the members themselves, their (spouses) partners or immediate family members. A conflict of interest does not exist if a commission member is affected merely as part of the general public or a broad section of the population. Consequently, affiliation with a political party as well as political convictions do not create a conflict of interest.
Member States have an obligation under EU law to prevent and deter unauthorized crossing of the EU's external borders in accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including the right to asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. Respect for fundamental rights is a non-negotiable part of the implementation of integrated European border management, and the Commission has repeatedly called on the relevant national authorities to thoroughly investigate allegations and bring those responsible to justice where appropriate.

*According to the new proposals, the Greek authorities will continue to work on a three-tier structure, relying on: a) internal control procedures to investigate crimes related to Greek Police or Greek Coast Guard operations and to
to be prosecuted, b) investigations by independent authorities such as the Greek Ombudsman and the National Transparency Authority, and c) the ability of prosecutors to investigate allegations following an appropriate complaint or press and NGO reports. Most recently, the
Greek authorities to adopt legislation on June 30, 2022, following discussions between Commissioner Johansson and relevant ministers in Greece, including the establishment of a Fundamental Rights Commissioner and a specific Fundamental Rights Monitoring Committee within the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. The Fundamental Rights Officer and the Committee will deal with complaints related to both border operations and asylum procedures.

Green delegation trip to the Greek border

Erik Marquardt on October 3, 2022

From September 19 to 21, I was part of a delegation from my group in the European Parliament, together with MEPs Tineke Strik from the Netherlands, Saskia Bricmont from Belgium and Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield traveled from France to Greece. The aim of the trip is to get a picture of the current situation of refugees in Greece – but also the situation of the rule of law and freedom of the press in general. The Greek government has had leading opposition politicians and journalists monitored by spyware and, according to Reporters Without Borders, the country is lagging behind in terms of press freedom, currently ranked 108 out of 180 countries – Only Russia and Belarus perform worse in Europe.

RIC Fylakio – Conditions in the camps.

The focus of our trip was a visit to the Evros, the border river to Turkey. Here again and again particularly serious human rights violations – violent and systematic pushbacks – documented. In addition, we have also addressed issues related to biometric mass surveillance of protection seekers in so-called RIC (Reception and Identification Center). We visited the RIC in Fylakio, where people are actually allowed to be locked up for a maximum of 25 days. In practice, even children are locked up there for months and have no access to education or medical care. The camp itself is small, but full of locked doors and barbed wire, with no shade or color. People live in container houses with blocks for families, men and unaccompanied minors. The NGOs on the ground are so intimidated by the government that they are afraid to talk to us MPs for fear of losing access to the camp or funds if they do.

Dead on the Evros

We were denied access to the border region, even though we are MEPs and I am responsible for external borders in Parliament. Unfortunately, the Greek authorities are concretely preventing me from doing my work as an MEP. We were standing in front of two containers, in which lay the bodies of 20 people found on the Evros River. This year alone, the bodies of 51 people have been found in the Greek border region. We talked to Dr. Pavlidis; he takes care of these cases on a voluntary basis, trying to create certainty for the relatives whether their missing sons, daughters or parents are still alive. Often the bodies are found only after months – also because NGOs are denied access to the border region.

Meeting with Frontex

All activities of the agency are based on the self-declared needs of the national authorities and are under that supervision. The Greek authorities try to keep Frontex away from their illegal activities and pushbacks, because Frontex should actually report them – which they have demonstrably not done in many cases. The border guards and supervisors we spoke with claim to report all activities, but have never witnessed any pushback. When we asked what they actually do all day, we did not receive a comprehensible answer.

Meeting with Notis Mitarachi

On Tuesday we had a meeting with the Greek Minister of Migration Notis Mitarachi, who has repeatedly accused us MPs and also renowned international media of spreading fake news and Turkish propaganda when we talked about the obvious pushbacks, violence and disappearances at sea. The Greek government is not only building fences on the border, but also a wall of lies. In his speech, Mitarachi spoke of much better reception conditions and a minimal backlog of asylum procedures in the country, but did not address the issues raised by credible actors allegations of pushbacks raised and other human rights violations. I have confronted Mr. Mitarachi with several recent cases, including the Cases of people stranded on an island on the river Evros. But Mr. Mitarachi simply claimed that all these cases were lies and fabrications.

Freedom of the press in Greece

We met journalists who were involved in the coverage of the Predator case involved where Greece illegally wiretapped journalists and opposition politicians. Their accounts painted a picture of intimidation, national media that have become the government's mouthpiece, and a severe lack of resources for investigative journalism.

Lesbos

After the end of the green mission, I traveled to Lesvos to see the situation in the Mavrouvoni camp, which was built after the fire in Moria and was intended as a short-term emergency solution. The situation in the camp is still not good, but it is also much better than a year ago due to the many NGOs and international pressure. How the situation was a year ago, I have written down here. Currently, a new camp is being built, which is even more remote than Mavrouvoni and should be ready next spring. It is feared that people will be locked up there and NGOs will not have access.

General situation in Greece

On Tuesday, we met with experts in Athens who deal with the dangerous effects of biometric mass surveillance, corruption in the allocation of public funds, attacks on press freedom and the wiretapping scandal. The many discussions left the picture of a state where basic democratic standards and human rights are no longer respected. The EU, especially the Commission, must act quickly and build pressure to counter further deterioration. Civil society, independent journalists and refugees need active support to resist the attacks by the state and the government.

Greek government lies

My visit to the Evros and Athens has shown me once again that the Greek government systematically lies in order to evade its responsibility and does not shy away from mistreating people on the run, intimidating NGOs and attacking and spying on journalists. But there is also an intact civil society that needs our support now to continue fighting for the rights of those seeking protection and for the preservation of democracy and the rule of law.

Question: Rejections despite interim measures of the ECtHR

Erik Marquardt on September 21, 2022

I have submitted a question to the Commission on pushbacks at the border between Greece and Turkey. The Commission expresses shock and concern about the reports and replies that it will review the current control mechanisms to safeguard fundamental rights.

You can find the request with answers in several languages here.

My request

As from the Greek Refugee Council reported, 94 Syrians:including minors with health conditions and young mothers with their infants, were recently stranded on an islet off the coast of the Greek regional district of Evros and were forced to stay there for several days without water and food. Although the European Court of Human Rights took interim measures on May 24, 2022, to ensure that these people receive immediate humanitarian and medical assistance and that the reception and identification procedures provided for by law are applied to them, they were returned to Turkey against their will last weekend, according to reports from their family members in Turkey.

In the Commission's view, are the Greek actions described above compatible with EU law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights?

What steps will the Commission take to investigate the possible expulsion of 94 Syrians?

Does it have information about other illegal refoulements by Greece or about the number of alleged illegal practices at the Greek border?

Answer given by Ylva Johansson on behalf of the European Commission on 08/08/2022

The Commission is deeply concerned by all reports and allegations of refoulement and ill-treatment. Any form of violence or refoulement is unlawful and must be investigated by the national authorities responsible for establishing the facts and taking follow-up action. The Commission is aware of the increasing migration flows at the land border with Turkey in recent months and the threat of smugglers who abandon migrants on small islands in the Evros River.

In accordance with the Regulation with common provisions Member States must establish effective mechanisms to comply with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (basic requirements). The Commission is currently assessing the mechanisms put in place in the context of the Greek programs under the Home Affairs Funds, including the independent mechanism for monitoring and preventing refoulement. If the Commission considers that an essential condition is not met, the expenditure incurred under the measures concerned may be included in the payment claims, but reimbursement will only be made once the Commission has informed the Member State concerned that the essential condition has been met.

The Commission examines all relevant information at its disposal and cooperates with the Greek authorities responsible for the control mechanisms and the concrete investigation of allegations. The Commission also works within the framework of the Task Force âMigration Managementâ is working with Greece and providing feedback in this area in order to increase the effectiveness of the monitoring and follow-up modalities put in place by the Greek authorities to fully implement the obligations under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and EU law, including the principle of non-refoulement.

Question: EU funding for closed migration centers

Erik Marquardt on September 21, 2022

The EU funds several closed migration centers with detention-like conditions in Greece. Despite evidence from a Greek court and several non-governmental organizations, the Commission denies that detention-like conditions exist and further claims that the rights of those seeking protection are not being violated.

You can find the request with answers in several languages here.

My request

The EU funds several closed migration centers in Greece. These include the closed controlled-access center on Samos, which opened in September 2021 and received funding of EUR 43 million under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). According to rulings by a Greek court and evidence from various non-governmental organizations, many asylum seekers face de facto detention and extensive surveillance at this center.

Does the Commission consider the funding of this closed center to be compatible with the specific provisions governing the detention of asylum seekers in international and European asylum law (e.g. the Reception Conditions Directive and the Dublin III Regulation)?

Could the Commission provide a detailed list of all AMIF expenditures for the Samos camp since September 2021, broken down by category of expenditure (in particular monitoring, including procedures and guards)?

Is there a concrete overview of funding under AMIF for comparable centers in the Georgian islands, including their capacity and total number of staff per camp, and how does the Commission monitor this expenditure?

Answer given by Ylva Johansson on behalf of the European Commission on 08/09/2022

The Commission has allocated â¬276 million from the Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) for the construction of five multi-purpose reception and identification centers on the islands of Samos, Kos, Leros, Chios and Lesvos. These centers include different areas, including reception and identification structures for new arrivals, accommodation facilities, safe areas for unaccompanied children and adolescents, recreational areas and deportation zones. As demonstrated by the Return Directive only the deportation zones are closed areas. The full respect of the EU right of asylum and return is a condition for the centers to be supported with EU funds.

The tender documents published by the Greek authorities for the construction of the centers are available online. They refer to the total cost of the construction works and not to the cost per center. The contracts containing information on the running costs of the new center on Samos come from the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum and therefore the Commission does not have the requested information. The Honourable Members are invited to contact the competent authorities for further information. Services of the Ministry to turn.

The Commission has deployed staff to the islands and is closely monitoring the work of the new centers to ensure compliance with applicable EU law. This is done through mandatory reporting by the beneficiaries of EU funds and on-site visits by Commission staff. For the construction of the new multipurpose reception and identification centers, an additional monitoring framework has been put in place, including regular financial controls by an external audit firm during the project.