Country briefing: Statelessness and refugees in Greece
WHO ARE THE RELEVANT REFUGEE RESPONSE ACTORS IN THE GREEK CONTEXT?
Stage
Key actors and roles
Reception and
Identification
•
Asylum Procedure
Support during
asylum process
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Determination of
international
protection status
Detention and
return
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
4
Reception and Identification Service has overall competency for all
procedures conducted within the scope of Reception and Identification
Procedures. Some parts of these procedures are implemented by:
o Hellenic Police: identification, fingerprinting and registration of new arrivals
with the operational assistance of FRONTEX; referral of those who wish to
seek asylum to the Asylum Service; detention of those who fall within the
scope of the so-called ‘pilot project’ (Kos and Lesvos); referral
to readmission procedures of new arrivals who do not express an
intention to seek asylum; patrol of premises of the Reception and
Identification Centre (RIC)
o KEELPNO: conducts medical and psychosocial screening and assessment
for new arrivals within the scope of First Reception Services and
recognises people as ‘vulnerable’ who are identified as falling within a
vulnerability category specified in law (A. 14 par 8 L.4375/2016)
EU Fundamental Rights Agency: presence in the Hotspots as observers
Greek Asylum Service (GAS) registers asylum seekers and examines their claims in
Regional Asylum Offices(RAO) and Autonomous Asylum Units (AAU) with the
support of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO); imposes geographic
limitations on new arrivals who have entered through the Eastern Aegean Islands
and lifts these where people are identified as vulnerable or subject to Dublin
procedures; issues residence permits to those who have been granted
international protection (travel documents are issued by the competent passport
office of the Hellenic Police).
UNHCR
International NGOs (e.g. Danish Refugee Council, CARITAS, HIAS)
National NGOs (e.g. Praksis, Greek Council for Refugees, Metradrasi,)
Volunteer organisations (e.g. Legal Centre Lesbos, Mosaik Support Centre,
European Lawyers in Lesvos, Refugee Info Bus)
Community organisations and networks (e.g. Greek Forum of Refugees, Arabiclanguage online platform that disseminates information to the Arabic-speaking
community)
Within the scope of the fast track border procedure, GAS conducts an initial
admissibility determination, based on EASO/GAS interview.
Within the regular procedure, asylum claims are examined directly on their merits
GAS assesses potential vulnerabilities of applicants who have not been previously
identified as vulnerable (if identified during the asylum procedure)
Decision on international protection status is made by GAS
People arriving on the islands might be restricted in RICs for up to 25 days, but
even afterwards a geographic restriction to the island is imposed by the GAS.
Restrictions may be lifted under certain conditions (e.g. Dublin cases, vulnerable
cases, after recognition)
Citizens of countries with low asylum recognition rates may be detained on arrival
until a final decision on their asylum application
Separated children or UAMs are held in ‘protective custody’ in RICs until
transferred to transit or longer-term shelters
IOM supports an Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme