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Rights groups urge Greece not to remove safeguards for refugees

March 10, 2017 at 3:38 pm

Refugees outside a camp in Greece on 19 September 2016 [Intimenews/Manolis Lagoutaris/via REUTERS]

A legal amendment in the Greek parliament that will remove safeguards for vulnerable people, including refugees and asylum seekers is being resisted by 13 major NGO’s.

Oxfam, Save the Children and Human Rights Watch signed a letter calling on the Greek Parliament to resist external pressures and reject any changes to legislation based on the European Commission’s Joint Action Plan for the EU-Turkey agreement.

The open letter published today states that the planned amendment to the protections enshrined in Greece’s asylum legislation, will remove safeguards for vulnerable people and families and further worsen the situation for people seeking safety and a better life in Europe.

Protecting the most vulnerable

The Greek Parliament is expected to vote within the coming days on changes to the way refugees and asylum seekers are processed on its shores. The organisations are calling on Greek Members of Parliament not to support amendments to Greek Law 4375/2016.

The letter states that

removing existing safeguards for vulnerable people and those with prospects for family reunification in other EU member states would mean keeping more people on the already overcrowded islands and putting further undue pressure on the islands’ population.

The  organisations  urged  parliament to make Greece an example of a country willing to uphold the human rights of and protection for people seeking safety and security in Europe, and not to allow Greece be used as a laboratory for testing migration policies at the expense of the most vulnerable.