European court slams Greece on asylum

As if Greece doesn’t have enough headaches, the European Court of Human Rights just issued a tough ruling on the country’s treatment of asylum applicants.  EUObserver has a good wrap-up and reaction piece: In reaction to the Friday ruling, Belgian immigration minister Melchior Wathelet said his country had already suspended in October all transfers to ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

As if Greece doesn't have enough headaches, the European Court of Human Rights just issued a tough ruling on the country's treatment of asylum applicants.  EUObserver has a good wrap-up and reaction piece:

As if Greece doesn’t have enough headaches, the European Court of Human Rights just issued a tough ruling on the country’s treatment of asylum applicants.  EUObserver has a good wrap-up and reaction piece:

In reaction to the Friday ruling, Belgian immigration minister Melchior Wathelet said his country had already suspended in October all transfers to Greece – a similar decision being taken earlier this week by Germany. The UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway also have halted expulsions to the Mediterranean peninsula.

"Greece effectively endangers the trust needed among member states to create a common asylum system," Mr Wathelet said in a statement, while urging Athens to shape up its asylum system as soon as possible.

Another 960 cases related to the Dublin regulation are pending in the Strasbourg court, most of which concern Greece, whose conditions for migrants were slammed by the UN, the Council of Europe, Human Rights Watch and other organisations.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

Tags: EU, Greece

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