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.