February 2025
Scathing report by the Greek Ombudsman for the shipwreck of Pylos -
Unacceptable interference by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy
The series of serious and reprehensible omissions in the search and rescue duties on the part of senior officers of the Hellenic Coast Guard, which constitute clear indications of the existence of, inter alia, offences of deadly exposure to danger, as well as exposure to endangering the life. The serious failures in the search and rescue duties by senior officers of the Coast Guard-Hellenic Coast Guard (C.G.- HCG), which constitute "clear indications" for the establishment, inter alia of the offences of deadly exposure to danger, as well as exposure to endangering the life, health and physical integrity of the persons on board of the fishing vessel Adriana, underlines the Ombudsman in a statement on the completion of the Independent Authority's investigation on the shipwreck of Pylos. In addition and inter alia, the Ombudsman points out that the competent authorities did not disclose to the Ombudsman "critical evidence" despite the requests of the Authority, such as data from the mobile phone of the captain of the Coast Guard, critical conversations and the recording material from the cameras of the Coast Guard vessel.
Following the Ombudsman's announcement, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy made an unacceptable attack on the institution of the Ombudsman itself. "This attack against an Independent Authority, and even for reasons relating to the exercise of its powers as provided for by the Constitution and the law, is a direct dispute of the institutional role that the Constitution itself guarantees for Independent Authorities," the Greek National Commission for Human Rights has stated.
Furthermore, as reported (1, 2), in leaked communication from the Unified Search and Rescue Coordination Center (EKSED) an operator of the EKSED can be heard allegedly talking to a passenger on board the fishing vessel and instructing him to explicitly state that the persons on board of the fishing vessel do not wish to be rescued from Greece.
See more:
- Ombudsman, Finding of the Ombudsman on the Pylos shipwreck, 3 February 2025
- Announcement of the 6 Organisations, including the GCR, supporting the survivors of the shipwreck on the Conclusion of the Ombudsman
- National Commission for Human Rights, Statement of the NCHR on the need to respect the constitutionally enshrined supervisory role of the Independent Authorities, 18 February 2025
- Efsyn & OmniaTV, Pylos Shipwreck: The audio of the cover-up and the cover-up of the audio, 22 February 2025
- News24/7, Pylos Shipwreck: "Say that - you don't want to go to Greece", 22 February 2025
- The Kathimerini, Pylos Shipwreck: The "lost" communications,14 February 2025
- ToVima.com, Reports: Missing Phone Calls in Pylos Shipwreck Probe, 22 February 2025
- BBC, Leaked recordings challenge Greek account of deadly shipwreck, 27 February 2025.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has granted 100 decisions on Interim Measures under Rule 39 in cases supported by the GCR, of refugees at risk of being pushed back at the Greek borders.
100 decisions on Interim Measures have been granted by the ECtHR, from March 2022 to February 2025, in cases of refugees at risk of being pushed back at the Greek borders. These decisions correspond to more than 1,140 persons who wished to lodge an asylum application in Greece at risk of refoulement in the Evros region. The European Court of Human Rights, in all cases, ordered the Greek Government not to remove the Applicants from Greek territory and, where appropriate, to provide them with access to food, water and medical assistance. Moreover, the ECtHR asks the Greek Government for information on whether the applicants have lodged an application for asylum in Greece or had access to the asylum procedure and legal assistance. In 58 out of 100 cases, the applicants complained that despite the granting of the Interim Measures requested, they were refouled from Greek territory to Türkiye, while in 33 out of 100 cases the applicants were missing after the Court's decision and GCR is not aware of their whereabouts. In addition, more than 20 full Applications in which the Applicants complaint for violations of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) due to their alleged refoulement, supported by GCR, are pending before the ECtHR.
It is reminded that in January 2025, the ECtHR in the landmark A.R.E. v. Greece Judgment, found for the first time that the Greek Authorities had indeed pushed back the applicant from the Evros region and that pushbacks are a "systematic practice" of the Greek authorities. A.R.E. v. Greece has been also supported by GCR.
- GCR Informational Note on interventions and applications for interim measures before the ECtHR in cases of refoulement, (updated 18 February 2025).
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe calls for zero tolerance of pushbacks - Visit to Greece
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe has called on the Greek authorities to adopt a zero tolerance approach to pushbacks and ensure accountability of those responsible, in his statement at the end of his visit to Greece in early February. Furthermore, and noting the Ombudsman's finding on the actions and omissions of the Hellenic Coast Guard in managing the incident of 13-14 June 2023, which led to the deadly shipwreck of Pylos, he called on the Greek authorities to take resolute action to ensure appropriate criminal and disciplinary accountability.
During his visit to Greece, the Commissioner, among others, visited the GCR headquarters in Athens, where he met with representatives of GCR and other civil society organisations and he also had the opportunity to talk to survivors of the Pylos shipwreck and refugee victims of pushbacks.
- Greece: the Commissioner calls for accountability for human rights violations committed at the borders and intensified efforts to honour the human rights of Roma, 11 Φεβρουαρίου 2025
Urgent need to protect unaccompanied children in Closed Controlled Facilities (C.C.Α.Cs) and Reception and Identification Centres (R.I.Cs)
The European Court of Human Rights granted Interim measures for 4 unaccompanied children, who remained for a prolonged period of time in the so-called safe zone of the Closed Controlled Access Center (CCAC) in Samos, in absolutely inappropriate conditions. "All this time they have not been out, they have not been to school, they have no clothes and shoes, they sleep on the floor, they have no access to water, toilets, etc." underlines inter alia the HRLP which has supported the request before the Court. Moreover, a joint letter to the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration on the alarming human rights situation in the Samos CCAC has been sent.
The CCAC of Samos was built with 100% European funding of €38 million and opened for the first time in 2021, when it was presented as a model for the management of new arrivals. However, inter alia the European Ombudsman and the Council of Europe's European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), have repeatedly documented the unsuitability of this centre, as well as new facilities in general on the Greek islands - facilities that are reminding of detention centres.
It is recalled that already in December 2024, the Ombudsman of the Child, following a complaint by GCR, has also highlighted the protection gaps for unaccompanied children in the CCΑCs and Reception and Identification Centers (RICs), noting the "strong concern about whether the conditions of their accommodation meet the required safety and protection" and the fact that "the image of the RICs and CCΑCs, based on the established security features (double fencing made of NATO-type barbed wire, turnstiles, surveillance systems, etc. ) resembles more a detention centre/detention facility than a reception and accommodation area for newly arrived foreigners and may have negative consequences on the mental health of the residents and especially of vulnerable persons" - The intervention of the Ombudsman of the Child.
Moreover, at the same time, members of the Child Rights Advocacy Network (CRAN), which coordinates GCR, had stressed in a Joint Press Release that hundreds of unaccompanied children are in Unsafe Zones in the C.C.Α.Cs on the islands and in the RICs in the main land under unacceptable conditions. The findings of the recent GCR report in cooperation with Save the Children entitled "It does not feel like real life", which focuses on the special reception needs of accompanied children living in camps in mainland Greece, are similar.
Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU: the rules laid down by Greek legislation concerning the examination by the Appeals Committees of Appeals against a first instance negative asylum decision make it excessively difficult to exercise the right of appeal and disproportionately impede the right to appeal and judicial protection
Contrary to European Union law is the procedural requirement imposed by Greek law, which obliges asylum seekers who have lodged an appeal before the Appeals Committees to appear in person, otherwise the appeal is rejected as manifestly unfounded without further examination, according to the Opinion of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Case C-610/23.
The Advocate General notes in particular that “the Independent Appeals Committees are based in the capital of the country, Athens. An applicant who does not reside in Athens […] must travel to the seat of those committees by his or her own financial means, merely in order to appear in person and not to be heard. There is no indication in the file before the Court that the material means to travel are provided to applicants or that the relevant costs of travelling are covered. However, for an applicant for international protection, the cost of travelling from his or her place of residence to the capital and the cost of accommodation in Athens can be significant. Moreover, […] national legislation does not provide for alternative methods allowing applicants to prove that they are present in Greek territory and retain an interest in their appeal”. Under these, the Advocate General founds that the relevant procedural requirement renders the exercise of the remedy excessively difficult and disproportionately hinders the right of access to a court or tribunal and the right to an effective remedy for applicants for international protection appears to be disproportionately hindered.
The case is being examined by the EU Court of Justice following a preliminary request sent by the Administrative Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki, in the context of the examination of an Application for Annulment of an Afghan citizen whose application for international protection had been rejected on this basis. The relevant procedural requirement to appear in person before the Appeals Committees was introduced for the first time by Law No. 4636/2019, legislation that had been widely criticized for introducing serious restrictions on the fair and effective examination of asylum applications and was reiterated by the provisions of Law No. 4939/2022.
GCR has underlined the incompatibility of the relevant provisions with the obligation of a fair and effective asylum procedure and the disproportionate restriction of the right of appeal already from the stage of consultation of the proposed regulations and in addition with an Application for Annulment before the Council of State, for which the decision is still pending.
- Opinion of the CJEU Advocate General of 6 February 2025 - Case C-610/23 (Al Nasiria), FO v Minister for Immigration and Asylum, reference for a preliminary ruling from the Administrative Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki (Greece).
Joint contribution of civil society organisations to the EU Rule of Law Report
In a joint report submitted to the European Commission, eight independent civil society organisations, including GCR, identify systemic problems in Greek institutions that affect the rule of law and identify a number of horizontal issues impacting on different aspects of the rule of law in the country, with an emphasis on issues of justice, absence of accountability and attribution of responsibility to state officials, "bad" lawmaking, freedom of the press, data protection and corruption. As highlighted at the press conference for the presentation of the report, “there is a common thread connecting the Tempi train crash, the Pylos shipwreck, the wiretapping of politicians and journalists, the violent disappearances of refugees in Evros and the Aegean, and police brutality: the inability of the Greek justice system to fulfil its duty to attribute responsibility for arbitrariness and criminal offences perpetrated by the state”.
- Ολόκληρη η Έκθεση (Αγγλικά)
- Extended Summary (Ελληνικά)
- Press conference to launch the Report
