Landmark Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in a case supported by the Greek Council for Refugees - Greece condemned for the first time by the European Court of Human Rights for a pushback
On 7 January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in the case of A.R.E. v. Greece (no. 15783/21). This is the first judgment in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has considered allegations regarding the refoulment (pushback) of a refugee conducted by the Greek authorities.
The ECtHR found inter alia that refoulements (pushbacks) are a "systematic practice", that the Greek authorities did indeed refouled/pushed back the Applicant to Turkiye, and that the Greek Judiciary does not effectively investigate cases of refoulements (pushbacks), including the Applicant's case. Furthermore, the Court found that the Applicant has been informally and arbitrarily detained prior of the pushback and noted that refoulements (pushbacks) are carried out in circumstances which put human life at risk.
The Applicant was represented before the European Court of Human Rights and the domestic proceedings by the Greek Council for Refugees.
"This is a landmark Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. The recognition by the Court that pushback is a systematic practice by the Greek authorities is a vindication for the thousands of victims who have been denouncing this illegal practice for many years. The Greek authorities must finally stop the pushbacks and the Greek justice system must finally hold accountable those responsible for such policies and practices, which violate international and Greek law and constitute a serious blow to the rule of law in Greece", said among others, the Coordinator of the GCR Legal Unit, Maria Papamina.
The Judgment was widely covered by Greek and international media, while the European Commission spokesperson stated that "the Commission notes this week's Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, while closely following the case".
"What is required for the rule of law in the country is for a court conviction to serve as a wake-up call for the orientation of state action towards full respect for the fundamental rights of every human being", the Greek Ombudsman said, following the issuance of the Judgment. The need for the principle of non-refoulement to be respected and for complaints of refoulement to be effectively investigated by the Greek judicial system was underlined in a statement by the Greek National Commission for Human Rights.
See more:
- GCR Press Release "ECtHR’s Judgment v. Greece – Greece condemned for the first time by the European Court of Human Rights for a pushback in Evros"
- Press Conference for the presentation of the Judgment
- Publications of Greek and foreign press - video Euronews
- Press Release of the Greek Ombudsman | Statement of the Greek ational Committee for Human Rights
- Main points of the Decision (Greek and English)
- The Judgment of the Court (French)
- The Press Release of the Court of Justice (English)
- The video of the oral hearing before the European Court of Human Rights, attended by GCR lawyers (June 2024)
- GCR Information Note on its interventions before the Greek authorities and 98 Interim Measures requests (R 39) before the ECtHR in pushback cases from 2022 to date.
Asylum granted to survivors of the Pylos shipwreck
Survivors of the Pylos shipwreck of Egyptian and Pakistani origin have been granted refugee status by the Appeals Committee. The decisions were issued following Appeals submitted by the survivors against first instance decisions of the Asylum Service rejecting their asylum applications and ordering their return, pending the criminal investigation into the Pylos shipwreck.
The Appeals before the Appeals Committees were supported by the Greek Council for Refugees, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) and the Initiative of Lawyers and Jurists for the Pylos Shipwreck. It is recalled that in previous decisions, the Asylum Service has already accepted the asylum application and recognised the refugee status of the Syrian and Palestinian survivors of the Pylos shipwreck.
GCR mission to Leros and Rhodes
In mid-January 2024, GCR lawyers and a GCR interpreter carried out a mission to Rhodes and Leros, where the survivors of the Rhodes shipwreck are located. The shipwreck occurred on 20 December 2024, with 8 people dead and an infant missing, following a collision with a coastguard vessel. GCR lawyers met and provided legal assistance to survivors, including relatives of persons who died in the shipwreck and who are calling for a full investigation into the circumstances of the shipwreck.
Greek Asylum Case Law Report 2/2024
The new issue of the Greek Asylum Case Law Report has been published, covering mainly the second half of 2024. Greek Asylum Case Law Report 2/2024 includes extracts from 84 decisions of administrative, civil and criminal courts, Independent Appeal Committees and the Asylum Service on international protection issues. The Greek Asylum Case Law Report is an initiative of the organizations Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), HIAS Greece and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA). A significant number of civil society organizations and lawyers of the Asylum Service Registry who contribute to the Case Law Report with Decisions in cases they have supported.
Read the Greek Asylum Case Law Report 2/2024
