asylum

More than 13,500 refugees and other migrants remain trapped on the Greek islands in deplorable conditions as winter begins, a coalition of 13 NGOs including Oxfam said today. Oxfam calls on the Greek government and its EU partners to transfer immediately at least 5,500 asylum seekers from the squalid island camps to the Greek mainland.

France is unlikely to be able to guarantee safety and human rights for asylum seekers in Libya, Oxfam said in reaction to French plans to set up a processing centre in Libya for asylum seekers in the North-African country.

This briefing paper is the result of a joint effort by 12 national and international organizations operating in Greece. The aim is to explain the current situation for those stranded in Greece for over six months since the closure of the northern border and introduction of the European Union (EU) – Turkey deal.

The Greek government must ensure people on the move are registered and have access to the asylum process, says Oxfam in reaction to the closure of the Idomeni makeshift camp in Northern Greece.

Deportations of refugees and migrants from Greece to Turkey must be halted immediately and people wanting to seek asylum should not be kept in detention, said Oxfam, Norwegian Refugee Council and Solidarity Now today in Greece. 

Rich countries have resettled only 1.39 percent of the nearly five million Syrian refugees, a fraction of the 10 percent of people who need to be urgently offered a safe haven. As wealthy states meet in Geneva on 30 March to discuss the Syria refugee crisis, Oxfam urges them to redouble their efforts and offer their ‘fair share’ of support to hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Europe’s leaders have just missed a crucial opportunity to make a real difference in the lives and deaths of the people suffering daily in the Mediterranean. Instead of heeding calls to restore immediately a search-and-rescue operation in the Mediterranean, the EU has chosen to focus on its border control operation.