GREECE FACING ONSLAUGHT OF IMMIGRANTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000260 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREF PHUM SOCI TU GR SUBJECT: GREECE FACING ONSLAUGHT OF IMMIGRANTS REF: 07 ATHENS 2204 Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Jeff Hovenier for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) The immigration statistics for 2007 reveal that Greece continues to face a sharp increase of migrants attempting to cross into Greece as a destination point or a stop-over en route to other parts of Europe and beyond. Asylum applications have increased four times from the previous year while approval rates have plummeted to the lowest in Europe. Greece is facing increased pressure from other EU countries and Human Rights NGOs for not abiding by EU directives on refugees. In a stunning rebuke to the Greek government (which has failed to provoke any response from the GoG) Norway refuses to send illegal immigrants back to Greece, claiming there is virtually no chance immigrants will be dealt with fairly or have any real opportunity to have an asylum claim heard and considered. Other countries have also refused to send migrants back to Greece on a case-by-case basis. An outgrowth of the Greek unwillingness to deal with refugees is seen in the port City of Patras where thousands of Afghan men (and potentially hundreds of unaccompanied minor boys) are squatting on an industrial wasteland near the port. Problems with Turkey taking back illegal migrants who have crossed from there into Greece continue to exacerbate tensions between the two Aegean nations. End summary. IMMIGRANT NUMBERS EXPLODING -------------- ¶2. (C) Press reports cite Greek Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos as identifying a worrying trend in illegal immigration. According to Pavlopoulos, 66,351 immigrants were arrested trying illegally to enter Greece in 2005. In 2006, that number jumped to 95,239 and in just the first nine months of 2007, there were 83,153 such arrests. According to Greek Port Authority officials, they arrested 9,240 immigrants in 2007 - a figure which is more than double the number of such arrests (3,500) by Port Authorities during the previous year. Port Authority officials also stated that they intercepted 652 incoming convoys, arrested 196 smugglers and seized 161 boats. During the first ten months of 2007, the Port Authority also arrested 1,200 immigrants attempting to exit Greece illegally. ¶3. (SBU) Greece is concerned about the number of asylum seekers from Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan. Between January and July of 2007, 16,000 asylum applications were submitted -- a four-fold increase over the same time frame a year ago. The approval rate for asylum seekers in Greece in 2007 was the lowest in Europe at a mere 0.61 percent. (In the rest of Europe, refugee approval rates vary from ten to thirty percent.) In 2006, 12,267 putative refugees applied for asylum in Greece; only 128 people, or about 0.9 percent of those, were approved. The year before that, the Greek approval rate was 0.61 percent and .3 percent the year before. Many human rights groups accuse the GoG of deliberately making the asylum procedure nearly impossible, on the grounds that they would encourage "refugee tourism." PROCEDURES INADEQUATE -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In what could only be seen as a complete repudiation of the Greek asylum/refugee process, Norway is refusing to send illegal immigrants back to Greece as called for under the Dublin II protocol. The Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers (NOAS) told journalists that 74 asylum seekers were returned to Greece last year. But seeking an end to the practice, NOAS said that asylum applicants in Greece "have almost no rights." NOAS also stated that it received reports that many applicants were abused while in the custody of Greek police and/or border authorities. On February 7, The Norwegians Aliens Council announced its decision to stop returning the migrants to Greece. In the last 18 months, on an ad hoc, individual basis, other countries have also refused to return migrants to Greece for fear of abuse or an inability to have an asylum claim really considered. Fellow EU members, Austria, Finland, Italy and Sweden have all ruled in favor of asylum seekers pleas not to be returned to Greece. ¶5. (C) The Greek Deputy Ombudsman for Children's Rights expressed concern over a case when, in early February, a fourteen year old boy was found dead in the undercarriage of a truck in Italy after arriving by ferry from Patras, Greece. ATHENS 00000260 002 OF 002 In the boy's pocket was a deportation order from the GoG compelling him to leave Greece within 30 days. The Ombudsman decried the child's death from exposure to toxic exhaust fumes as being completely avoidable had the GoG followed proper procedures for dealing with unaccompanied minors. Releasing them on their own and ordering them to depart the country is not appropriate. PATRAS: A FOCAL POINT -------------- ¶6. (C) Patras has become the focus of both Greek authorities and human rights activists after government officials recently engaged in a coordinated crackdown. In the first two weeks of February, port authorities, local police and the Hellenic Coast Guard teamed up to stop Afghan immigrants from surreptitiously boarding ferries bound for Italy. In one day alone, over 45 Afghans were removed from hiding places on two trucks in the port. On February 12, poloff met with Coast Guard Commander Apostolis Liourdis who admitted that while their efforts in the coordinated crackdown had been largely successful, they were forced to suspend the operation as a result of criticism from human rights groups. He said, however, that the ultimate goal of ridding Patras of the refugee squatters camp was still active and he hoped it would occur in the not too distant future. In a meeting later that same day, the Mayor of Patras told poloff that he was prohibited from building a refugee reception center in Patras for fear that Greece would be accused by the rest of the EU of facilitating illegal migration onto Italy and beyond. ¶7. (C) Poloff visited the makeshift Patras camp where now approximately 2000 Afghans are living and waiting for an opportunity to get to Italy or some other part of Europe. In recent weeks, a Red Cross worker told us that the camp had held as many as 4,000 Afghan men. (Note: the Red Cross worker stated that he has never seen a single woman living in the camp. End note.) Poloff met at least one boy who said he was 12 years old and heard from Red Cross workers that there were possibly as many as 175 other unaccompanied minors in the camp -- one as young as nine years old. COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) The surge in illegal immigration to Greece is being felt in all corners of this small country which has traditionally been a nation of emigrants and not accustomed to immigration. Greek claims of a sharp increase in illegal immigration and the need for Turkey to implement more effectively the bilateral protocol on returns appear legitimate. Greece has solicited greater support from the EU. However, we are concerned that the Greek response to this problem may not be sufficient or consistent with its human rights commitments; we are particularly concerned by the low rate of asylum approvals. We are urging the GoG to accept more refugees and to bring its approved asylum numbers more in line with the rest of Europe. SPECKHARD