• Human Rights in Greece

    Acknowledging alarming levels of xenophobic violence, the government created specialized police units to address the issue. Access to asylum remains difficult and Syrians face detention, significant obstacles in getting protection, and even forced return. Police sweeps since August 2012 have led to over 80,000 presumed undocumented migrants being detained for questioning based on little more than appearance. Since 2012, migrants and asylum seekers may be detained on broad public health grounds, and the maximum period of detention for asylum seekers was extended for up to 18 months. Blasphemy investigations into a play depicting Jesus Christ as gay and a Facebook page satirizing a dead monk raised freedom of speech concerns.

  • A 14-year-old unaccompanied migrant boy from Afghanistan stands outside the abandoned house in which he lives with 25 other Afghan migrants in Patras, Greece. Like many other migrants, he is trying to stow away on ships to Italy to claim asylum. © 2012 Human Rights Watch
    © 2012 Human Rights Watch
    Italy: Summary Returns to Greece Violate Rights
    Italy is summarily returning unaccompanied migrant children and adult asylum seekers to Greece, where they face a dysfunctional asylum system and abusive detention conditions, Human Rights Watch said in a report published today. Stowaways on ferries from Greece, including children as young as 13, are sent back by Italian authorities within hours without adequate consideration of their particular needs as children or their desire to apply for asylum.
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Greece

  • Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 18 June
    Jun 18, 2013
  • Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 12 June
    Jun 12, 2013
  • Greece: Abusive Crackdown on Migrants
    Jun 12, 2013
    Athens police are conducting abusive stops and searches and have detained tens of thousands of people in a crackdown on irregular migration, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
  • Greece: Strengthen Response to Racist Violence
    May 30, 2013
    Greece’s government should move quickly to adopt measures to combat hate crimes and protect victims. A bill on hate speech and racist violence has yet to be submitted in parliament because of disagreement among the three parties in the ruling coalition over its scope.
  • A Real Life 'Hunger Games'
    May 20, 2013
    Here’s a story to break your heart – thousands of Afghan refugee boys who roam Europe alone, without parents, without enough help from European governments, and at risk of destitution, detention, and death.
  • Xenophobia in Greece
    May 13, 2013
    Last year was very tough for Greece, and there for few prospects that 2013 will be easier. Millions of people have been directly affected by the sweeping austerity measures arising from the economic crisis. The country is convulsed by political tensions, with the rise of the far-right Golden Dawn party the most worrying example. And there are severe social problems, linked in part to the huge influx in recent years of irregular migrants from outside the European Union.
  • Letter to the Greek Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights Regarding Proposed Modification to the Greek Criminal Code
    Feb 28, 2013
  • Divided We Fall: Intolerance in Europe Puts Rights at Risk
    Feb 14, 2013
    An Afghan migrant is stabbed in the heart on the streets of Athens. Black-shirted paramilitaries linked to Hungary’s third-largest political party march through a Roma neighborhood shouting, “You will die here.” A neo-Nazi gang commits a string of murders of Turkish immigrants in Germany. An ideologue driven by hatred of “multiculturalism” kills 67 mostly young people on a Norwegian Island.
  • EU: Human Rights Sidelined Amid Crisis
    Jan 31, 2013
    National and European Union (EU) leaders failed to address serious human rights concerns in the region amid economic and political crisis in 2012, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013. Human Rights Watch documented human rights concerns in the EU, highlighting events in 10 member states and EU-level developments in migration and asylum, discrimination and intolerance, and counterterrorism policy.
  • Italy: Summary Returns to Greece Violate Rights
    Jan 22, 2013
    Italy is summarily returning unaccompanied migrant children and adult asylum seekers to Greece, where they face a dysfunctional asylum system and abusive detention conditions, Human Rights Watch said in a report published today. Stowaways on ferries from Greece, including children as young as 13, are sent back by Italian authorities within hours without adequate consideration of their particular needs as children or their desire to apply for asylum.
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