Thread by @AdrianaTdn

THREAD /1: Today @amnesty voices its concerns on the proposed changes to #Greece #Asylum Law, which downgrades EU and international human rights standards for #Refugeesgr - read it here: amnesty.org/en/documents/e…

@amnesty THREAD/2 - The #asylum bill was long anticipated by the GR Gov which promised "consulting publicly" on it. Yet, once published on 16 Oct, external actors had only 5 days to comment on the 121 articles of the law, covering procedures, detention, reception, health, work, education.

@amnesty /3 The proposal is a blow to vulnerable refugees. People with PTSD are no longer explicitly mentioned and torture survivors are required certification by public health providers, excluding the work of privates, NGOs etc. (who have done most of it so far..bit.ly/3650dsQ)

@amnesty 4/ The Bill tries to accelerate the examination of asylum applications with greater use of admissibility, accelerated & border procedures. The concept of ‘safe third country’, allowing authorities to return people to a place of ‘sufficient’ protection is also dangerously revived

@amnesty 5/It also hampers #refugeesgr enjoyment of economic, social&cultural rights. It proposes reducing reception for #children who don’t enroll in schools and their family, in violation of the spirit of #UNCRC right to #education and the independent right adequate standards of living

@amnesty 6/Access to jobs no longer immediate but granted after 6 months, making living conditions living for #refugeesgr more precarious.
@CommissionerHR
noted it in 2018: refugees' work rights “seriously hampered by the economic conditions prevailing in Greece” bit.ly/2OtLH3R

@amnesty @CommissionerHR 7/AMKA (Social security number), which gives access to health facilities to refugees has stopped being granted since July 19. K.Y.P.A. (Foreigner Health Card), will be the solution to this according to the bill. Too bad that the system has not been operational since 2016.

@amnesty @CommissionerHR 8/ With the new asylum law entering into force in January 2020, refugees, many of whom have serious conditions, risk being left in limbo. We talked about it here: bit.ly/362DiyE

@amnesty @CommissionerHR 9/ Automatic judicial review of orders to detain asylum seekers, demanded to GR by the @UN Special representative for the rights of #migrants, is also proposed for removal. bit.ly/343H4WF

@amnesty @CommissionerHR @UN 10/ Even scarier, proposal suggests that #police and #army officials could be involved in admissibility interviews of asylum seekers, compromise the impartiality of the procedure and risking re-traumatisation of people fleeing persecution and abuses.

@amnesty @CommissionerHR @UN 11/11 @amnesty @maxmoratti69 said “The proposal is a rushed and worrying attempt to address refugee and migration issues at the expenses of individuals’ protection. They create burdens for asylum seekers and raise barriers to their life in Greece, in breach of EU&int standards"