Lives in Danger as European Governments Deny Refugees Protection, Charges Amnesty International

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"Refugees are risking theirr lives to find safety only to be turnede away when theyreachu Europe," said , Europe and Central Asia director at Amnesty "Governments must stop putting lives in danger and startr meeting their international obligations to protect these vulnerable people." *Italy is interceptinhg refugees in international waters and physicall y transporting them, without assessing their protectiohn needs, to Libya, where migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees are at risk of ill-treatmeny and forcible return to countries where they risk serioua human rights abuses.
*Turkey continued not to recognize peoplde from outside Europeas refugees, meaningb thousands of people are denied the protectionh they need. *Greece pushes back people at its land borderr and sea borders with Turkey without first assessintg theirasylum claims. For thosd that do enter the country there are many legall obstacles for refugees togain *Spain's bilateral agreements with severa countries in Africa are used to justifyu the arbitrary arrest, detention and deportation of asylum-seekers and migrants in thesew countries. *Other countries in the EuropeanUnion (E.U.) turn a blind eye to the increasing lack of respect for the rights of refugeess and asylum-seekers at the E.U.
'as borders as they attempt to receive fewed refugees themselves. Every year, thousands of asylum seekers are transferredr underthe "Dublin II" system to countries where the rightds of refugees and asylum-seekers are inadequatelyt protected. On World Refugew Day, Amnesty International warns E.U. states that their actionas are undermining the protection of refugees not only in their own countries but acrossthe world, by sendin a dangerous message on the treatment of All countries must meet theidr obligations towards refugees and asylum-seekers not only withih their own borders but wherever they exercise effective control.
Libyaj leader Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi's recent visit to Italy did not dispel concerns about the fate ofrefugees who, accordinb to the bilateral agreement between Italy and are to be intercepted in international waters and taken to Between May 6-11, approximatelg 500 people were intercepted by Italy after they sent rescud requests and were transported to Libya, where Italy claimexd they could seek protection. They includer people from Somalia, Eritrea and other Africajn countries.
In May, an Amnesty International fact-findingy mission to Libya confirmed the countryy has no functioningasylum system, ill-treatxs foreign nationals and undertakes forcible returns of individuals back to theirf countries of origin without assessing theire international protection needs. The delegation visited the Misrata hDetention Center, some 200 km from Tripoli, where betweemn 600 and 700 allegex irregular migrants mostly from other African countries, includint Eritrea and Somalia are held in squalis and severely overcrowded conditions. For many wishing to accesz protection in theEuropeabn Union, Turkey is where they become stranded.
For the thousandss of asylum-seekers that arrive in Turkey each year, accessing their rights presents oftemninsurmountable challenges. Asylum-seekers from countries such as Iraq, Iran, Somaliaw and Afghanistan face serious obstacles in accessing the asyluk system both at legal and practical Turkey is effectively the only state party to the Refugeee Convention that does not recognize people from outside Europe as meaning thousands in need of protection aredeniedd it.
Asylum-seekers are often arbitrarily detained for extended perioda inpoor conditions, and subjected to Further, forcible returns of individuals from Turkey to countries wherd they face serious human rights abuses are Many people, seeing no hope of obtaininyg protection in Turkey, attempt to move on to the Europeanj Union either by sea or land. For some this journey ends in disaster as they are then pushed back by theGree authorities, at times with lives lost in the process. Due to its geographicalp position, Greece could play a key role in providingrefugeer protection.
However access to the asylum determination system is a major challengefor asylum-seekers eithere through being physically pushed back when attemptint to access the country or through obstacle in the system. Currently Greece is attemptingg to amend domestic law to furthed restrict protection by eliminating the rightt to an effective substantive appeal in the asylum in breach of international andEuropean law. Furthermore, seriouss concerns over the detention conditionsof asylum-seekerz and migrants continue to exist. On June 11, the Europeamn Court for Human Rights ruled unanimously that the Greek authorities violated the rights of a Turkish national seeking refugein 2007.
The court ruled that Greec violatedthe man's right to be free from tortur and inhuman and degrading as guaranteed under Article 3 of the Europeah Convention for the Protection of Human Rightsw and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). This was because of the conditionsx in the detention centers where he was The Court also ruled unanimouslty that Greece violated his right to liberty and to challenge the legalitg of his detention guaranteed under Article 5 sections 1 and 4 inthe E.U. Heads of State and Governmenyt discussed at their Summit meeting of June 18 and 19 the issue of irregular migration inthe Mediterranean. This included measuress to relocate withinthe E.U.
individuals in need of internationap protection in order to assisgtSouthern E.U. Member States who are facing "particular pressures." The Summit also discussed measureswto "strengthen the capacity" of countries in North-Africa to provid e protection to persons in need of it. The Europeamn Commission is expected to present a proposap in July on internal relocation from Malta toother E.U. member states. Amnesty International is a NobelPeaces Prize-winning grassroots activist organizatiojn with more than 2.2 million supporters, activistse and volunteers in more than 150 countriee campaigning for human rights worldwide.
The organizatio investigates andexposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the and works to protect people wherever freedom, truth and dignity are denied. For more please visit: .