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Tell Greece That Asylum Reform Cannot Wait
  1. Signatures
    100 out of 100
    Petitioning
    1. President of Greece (+ 2 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • President of Greece (President Karolos Papoulias)
      • Minister for Foreign Affairs, Greece (Minister Dimitris Droutsas)
      • Minister for Justice, Transparency and Human Rights, Greece (Minister Haris Kastanidis)
  2. Created By
    L M
    Berkeley, CA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

In the past two weeks, both Human Rights Watch and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have recently called upon Greece to immediately begin reforming its impoverished immigration system in order to provide real protection to those seeking refuge on Grecian shores.

Greece has a current backlog of over 45,000 asylum cases  and a practically nonexistent appeals process. Rejection seems to be the rule of the Greek asylum system, as Greece has the lowest asylum-granting rate of  in all of Europe: according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Greece granted a paltry .04% of asylum claims in 2009--that's about 11 people out of almost 30,000 applicants. Because there are few public services and asylum seekers are viewed as a societal burden not to be borne, life for an asylum seeker in Greece is nothing short of misery. The migrants are often homeless and crowd the cities' streets waiting for their number to be called, or are holed-up in inhumane off-shore detention centers where they hope beyond all hope not to be sent back to the dangers at home or, worse, across the border to Turkey where they are often beaten, tortured and sent back home to certain persecution.

Asylum reform in Greece cannot wait. The 45,000 asylum-seekers waiting for their cases to be heard, along with the thousands that have been rejected and have no recourse to appeal, will agree. Help provide these people with a voice and tell Greece: asylum reform must happen now.

Recent Signatures

Asylum Reform Cannot Wait

Dear President Papoulias and Ministers Kastanidis and Droutsas:

I am writing to express my utter dismay at the current state of Greece's immigration affairs. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly chastised your government for its horrific treatment of asylum seekers and migrants within your borders, and UNHCR has recently called upon you to urgently take up the matter of asylum reform . I agree with Human Rights Watch, UNHCR, human rights defenders around the world: asylum reform in Greece absolutely cannot wait.

As you are well aware, Greece is required under international law to provide protection to those asylum seekers who can prove a well-founded fear of persecution in their home countries based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or social group. Yet in Greece, asylum seekers rarely even get the opportunity to even register for an asylum hearing, let alone have their cases be heard. Your government has a current back-load of over 45,000 cases, which is abominable as it is. Yet worse is your rate of acceptance: Greece's asylum-granting rate of .04% is so far below the region's average that it would be just plain laughable, if it wasn't costing human lives. It is clear that Greece is not taking its commitment to human rights seriously.

While I understand that the Dublin II provision of E.U. law places a great deal of the "burden" of European immigration upon Greece, there is absolutely no excuse for the flagrant disregard of human rights within your borders, or for the lack of effort put into reforming your asylum system into something that is workable, humane, efficient and fair.

Greece must make asylum reform a priority if it is to be taken seriously as a country that values human life and honors international contracts. Please make asylum reform a reality--and soon.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

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