Danish Refugee Council | 15.11.2017
Refugees and asylum seekers experience a broad range of rights violations when they arrive to the so-called hotspots in Italy and Greece. Additionally the Greek hotspots have become a form of deterrence policy, a new Danish Refugee Council (DRC) study of the implementation of the EU hotspot approach shows.
Gaps in information, lack of legal assistance, under-identification of vulnerable persons, restricted freedom of movement and de facto detention. This is just some of the conditions which asylum seekers and refugees arriving in the hotspots in Italy and Greece meet, according to a legal assessment of the current operation of the EU hotspot approach. The result is a wide range of fundamental rights issues in the hotspots, which are addressed in the study through a number of recommendations. While the EU Hotspot Approach in itself is not a problem, the way that it is implemented is.
The study includes a more in-depth look into the Moria hotspot on the Greek island of Lesvos. It shows poor humanitarian standards with massive overcrowding. Current figures estimate a staggering 6250 asylum seekers and migrants currently residing in Moria, against a capacity of 1800. At the time of the study, only one latrine was functioning, water supplies were insufficient, and thousands of asylum seekers were living in tents.