The case of M.S.S. v Belgium & Greece concerned an Afghan asylum seeker who fled Kabul in 2008, entered the European Union through Greece and travelled on to Belgium where he applied for asylum. According to the Dublin Regulation, the first Member State that an asylum seeker enters should be the one to examine the asylum application. Therefore, Belgium returned M.S.S to Greece in June 2009, where he was detained in degrading and overcrowded conditions before living on the streets without any material support. The Court has confirmed that MSS was exposed to inhuman and degrading treatment (in violation of Article 3 of the ECHR), and that his right to an effective remedy (Article 13 of the ECHR) was violated.

Bjarte Vandvik, ECRE Secretary General, stated: ““This judgment is a major blow to the Dublin system. The assumption that all EU Member States respect fundamental rights and that it is therefore safe to automatically transfer asylum seekers between EU countries no longer stands. Europe must seriously rethink the Dublin system and replace it with a regime that ensures the rights of asylum seekers are respected”.

This judgment will affect many asylum seekers in Europe. In 2010 alone, EU countries requested Greece to examine the applications of almost 7,000 asylum seekers who had entered the EU through Greece. Their situation will now need to be re-examined in light of this ruling.

Bjarte Vandvik stated: “European countries must comply with the Court's ruling, stop sending asylum seekers back to Greece, and examine asylum applications themselves until a fair asylum system is in place in Greece”.

Pending this judgment and other court challenges, several European countries including the UK, Sweden, Belgium, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands had suspended transfers of asylum seekers to Greece. Germany took a similar step this week.

The Dublin system fails refugees and Member States and needs to be changed

This ruling reflects the serious shortcomings in the asylum procedure in Greece and in Belgium and it also highlights the flaws in the Dublin system itself. ECRE has long stressed that Dublin shifts responsibility for asylum seekers to states at Europe's frontiers. Also, it allows refugees to be sent back to European countries where their fundamental rights are not respected.

As a first step in the right direction, ECRE supports the Commission proposal to review the Dublin Regulation, as it introduces significant humanitarian reforms and important procedural safeguards. For example, the proposal makes it easier for asylum seekers to join family members living in Europe, protects the rights of children who have arrived alone and ensures the continuity of care for vulnerable persons.

However, these are only temporary measures that do not solve the sometimes devastating impact of the Dublin system on asylum seeker’s human rights. Ultimately the Dublin Regulation should be abolished and replaced by a more humane and equitable system that considers the connections between individual asylum seekers and particular Member States.

Being an asylum seeker in Greece

Greece is undertaking important efforts to reform its asylum system. Legislation has recently been adopted to establish new procedures to deal with new asylum applications and the backlog of 54,000 asylum claims pending examination. However, the country has not had a functioning asylum system for several years. Time, resources and EU solidarity will be needed to support these efforts of reform. Currently, most people in need of protection do not even have the opportunity to have their asylum claims heard and those few who manage to apply for asylum in Greece have practically no chances of being recognised as a refugee.

Further information

• The European Court of Human Rights judgment will be available on www.echr.coe.int<
• ECRE, Sharing Responsibility for Refugee Protection in Europe: Dublin Reconsidered, available at http://www.ecre.org/resources/policy_papers/1058<
• ECRE, Comments on the European Commission Proposal to recast the Dublin Regulation, available at: http://www.ecre.org/resources/policy_papers/1342<
• ECRE, Asylum lottery in four maps: http://www.ecre.org/resources/ECRE_actions/1681<
• A person's chances of being granted asylum still vary hugely according to the country where the asylum seeker has his or her asylum claim processed. For example, in 2009 around 80% of Iraqis who fled their home country and applied for asylum in Germany and Austria were recognised to be in need of international protection. However, only 21% of those who applied for asylum in the UK were granted international protection.
• ECRE supports Greece’s recent efforts to reform their asylum system. For further information on the Greek Action Plan on Asylum and Migration Management, see: http://www.ydt.gr/index.php?option=ozo_content&lang=EN&perform=view&id=3246&Itemid=443<
• All EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland apply the Dublin system.