Greece: 'New Bill restricts asylum seekers' rights', says HRW

The Human Rights Watch said on October 29, that Greece's parliament will have to remove the provisions in the new Bill which threaten to limit access to protection by the asylum seekers. Furthermore, this draft law will be debated in the parliament later this week which would decrease the safeguards for people who seek asylum after fleeing from countries like Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq in order to block the arrival of migrants and refugees in the Greek nation according to a 2016 European Union migration deal with Turkey. 

Read - US Stepping Up Efforts To Collect DNA Samples From Asylum-seekers

The biggest resurgence in refugee arrivals

Reportedly, Athens is currently struggling with the greatest resurgence in refugee arrivals since 2015 when nearly a million people crossed into Europe from Turkey through Greece. According to Eva Cosse, the Greece researcher at the Human Rights Watch, the bill is a 'naked attempt' to block the access to protection and increase deportations in the response to the recent increase in arrivals of asylum seekers. Cosse further thinks that the Greek government should rather work on the humanitarian crisis that has been a result of 'deeply flawed' deal with Turkey and should ensure a fair and efficient asylum procedure. 

Read - Mexicans Seeking Asylum In The United States Of America Has Increased

The complicated bill 

The complicated 237-page bill on “international protection and other provisions” was introduced on October 21, 2019, after a relatively fastened six-day public consultation period. This new bill introduced by the government in Greece will also allow the officials to detain asylum seekers for a longer period of time scrap away the essential protections for vulnerable people. Furthermore, the bill would introduce several; procedural changes that hinder access to a fair asylum process and compromise the right to appeal for people who want asylum. This bill also comes in with stern rules which would delay the process and also reportedly narrows down the definitions of family, while imposing additional burdens. 

Soon after the bill was introduced in Greece, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said the draft law “will endanger people who need international protection,” acknowledging the risk that people could be sent back to a country where their freedom would be threatened. The Greek National Commission for Human Rights along with numerous nongovernmental organizations have raised concerns about the proposals and the rushed way they were submitted.

Read - Indian Asylum Seeker Ajay Kumar Released By US After Hunger Strike

Read - USA, El Salvador Agree To Strengthen El Salvador's Asylum Capacity

(With input from agencies)