Posted Mar 18, 2022

EU-Turkey Statement

6 years of undermining refugee protection

On the 6th anniversary of the EU-Turkey Statement, 8 NGOs - including Destination Unknown member, Terre des hommes Hellas - warn that this agreement and subsequent policies prevent displaced people who are in clear need of protection from being able to access asylum procedures in Greece.

The EU-Turkey Statement stipulated that people crossing irregularly to the Greek islands from Turkey would be returned there. Six years later, this measure which was supposed to only be “temporary and extraordinary”, has become a hallmark of the EU shirking its responsibility to protect refugees.

“Greece's decision not to consider the asylum applications of thousands of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and two other countries on their merit has affected vulnerable people, such as children, pregnant women, the chronically ill and the elderly" says Leda Avgousti, Head of Terre des hommes Hellas.

Read the joint NGO visual briefing and recommendations.

Greece's decision not to consider the asylum applications of thousands of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and two other countries on their merit has affected vulnerable people.

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